In the Heat of the Moment
by E. Limberg
Summary: Castle and Beckett must deal with their feelings when she is attacked by a man obsessed with Nikki Heat after she spends the evening with the writer and his daughter. He must deal with his guilt as she struggles to catch the man that sees himself as Rook.
1. Movie Night

**In the Heat of the Moment**

**Chapter 1: Movie Night**

Kate Beckett is seated at her desk working on the paperwork from the most recent case that her team had solved when a figure blocks the light of the precinct, casting a shadow on the papers in front of her. After a moment, she looks up to see who is disturbing her. "What do you need, Castle?"

"Go home. It was a long day and a very trying case. You need to rest and relax."

"I have paperwork to do. Just because Nikki Heat does not have to deal with all of this paperwork doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. You, however, are free to go, Castle. You don't have to sit around here and watch me."

"I like to watch you."

"So I've noticed."

"And I have to make sure you go home."

"I will go home. After I finish this paperwork," she returns her gaze to the papers in front of her.

"You should come home with me," Rick says, and her head snaps up at his suggestion. He quickly continues, "Alexis and I are having movie night. Pizza, ice cream sundaes, movies… You should join us."

"No, I can't intrude on your time with your daughter," she shakes her head. "Besides, I'm working."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you joined us. Mother is out with Chet tonight so we do have a spot available."

"Castle," Kate sighs. "I think I've spent enough time with you for one day. Now, you should really be going; Alexis is waiting for you."

"It's only six-thirty; we don't start movie night until seven-thirty."

"It's Friday night; traffic is going to be terrible. You really should leave now."

"I'm getting the feeling that you don't want me around anymore, Detective," Castle smirks.

"I've had a difficult day –"

"All the more reason for you to come over and watch movies and relax with us," he studies her face, watching as she is torn between work and relaxation. "You've already caught the killer; the paperwork can wait until morning," he gently coaxes her.

"Fine. But no funny business," she tells him in a stern voice.

"I promise. Besides, Alexis will be there."

**CB**

"Sorry I'm a little late," Castle calls to his daughter as he and the detective enter the apartment, pizzas in hand.

"It's alright," Alexis calls as she walks to the kitchen to greet them. "Detective Beckett, it's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too, Alexis," Kate smiles at the teenager.

"Dad invited you to movie night?"

"Yeah. But if you'd rather spend time alone with him, I can leave."

"No, it's fine. Besides, you never got to have movie night when you stayed with us after your apartment was blown up."

"Alexis, you take the pizzas into the living room and get the movie set up while Beckett and I get drinks and plates."

"Is the new _Alice in Wonderland_ okay with everyone?" she asks, taking the pizzas.

Castle looks at Kate, who nods. "Great. It will be perfect for taking our minds off of the case we just finished." Once Alexis is out of the room, Castle goes to fridge. "What would you like to drink? I was going to have a beer."

"I'll have one too."

"Just one? After that case, I think we can indulge a little more…"

"I have to be able to get home, Castle. And that wouldn't be a very good example for your daughter. And if you think you can get lucky if you get me drunk, you better think about whether or not you want to see your daughter graduate in the spring."

He smirks, "I was only teasing. Besides, I can always hope that one day you'll return my feelings for you…"

"Castle…"

"The movie's ready," Alexis calls, wondering what was taking the two of them so long.

Castle gives Kate the two beers and Coca-cola before grabbing plates from the cabinet. She follows him to the living room, where she hands Alexis her drink and he passes out the plates. They then fill their plates before starting the movie, Alexis leaving the couch to her father and Kate.

When the movie is over, Castle collects the garbage, heading into the kitchen to get the supplies for ice cream sundaes. "I don't remember there being so much of the Mad Hatter in the original _Alice in Wonderland_," Kate remarks. "Not that I'm complaining because the actor did a nice job with such an unusual character."

"Johnny Depp always portrays interesting characters. He was Willy Wonka in the remake of _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_. And he was Jack Sparrow in the _Pirates_ movies; haven't you seen those?"

Beckett thinks for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't go to the movies much. When Lanie and I go, she always drags me to the romantic comedies."

Castle enters the living room, bowls and a large container of ice cream in his hands, "I will be right back with the toppings."

"Dad, Detective Beckett has never seen _Pirates of the Caribbean_," Alexis informs her father.

"What?" he turns to the detective.

"Am I missing something?" she looks between the two.

"Yes. It's like one of the biggest movie franchises ever."

"Well, not as big as _Harry Potter_. Or _Twilight_," Alexis adds.

Kate's face remains blank. "Please tell me you've heard of _Harry Potter_ and _Twilight_," Castle says.

"Harry Potter is the wizard," she shrugs. "And isn't _Twilight_ the one with the vampires and werewolves?" Alexis nods in confirmation. "Lanie dragged me to one of those movies."

Castle smirks, "Really?"

"She wanted to look at the hot guys that are way too young for her. I didn't really understand the point of the story."

"Maybe you should read the books. They are so much better than the movies."

"The books normally are," she says. It takes a moment for his words to sink in. "Wait, you've read those books. Aren't they for teenage girls?"

"I read them for research. To see what the kids were into these days," he quickly defends himself. "Literary research. That was it."

She nods, smirking. "Anyway, I pretty much stick to the mystery genre."

"Don't you get enough mystery at work?"

"Dad, why don't you get the rest of the toppings? I'll start _Pirates of the Caribbean _so Detective Beckett can experience something other than mysteries," Alexis offers.

Castle returns moments later and begins to scoop ice cream for the three of them. As the movie begins, they top their ice cream with different sauces and whipped cream. Captivated by the movie even just moments into it, he watches as both females stare at the screen, occasionally remembering the ice cream in their hands and putting a spoonful in their mouths without taking their eyes from the screen.

An hour into the movie, however, he finds both women to be sound asleep. Sighing, he silently puts the ice cream and toppings back in the fridge and turns the TV off. He carefully lifts Alexis up and carries her up to her bed; she mumbles something about Beckett as he sets her down and tucks her in, but she quickly falls back into a deep sleep when he kisses her forehead.

Rick then heads back downstairs, staring at his muse and weighing his options as he watches her sleep. He could wake her up so that she could go to her own apartment, but she may get hurt at the late hour on her way home, especially since she'd be half asleep. He could also carry her to the spare bedroom and let her sleep there for the night; he would, of course, be in danger the next morning when she woke up and found out that she had spent the night at his house, but it kept her out of danger, which was the only thing he cared about.

Castle gently tucks one arm behind her knees and the other behind her back, hoping not to wake her as he lifts her up. As he takes a step, a karate chop hits his throat, cutting off his air momentarily. This causes him to drop Beckett as he reaches for his throat, coughing as he struggles to breathe.

"Castle, what are you doing?" Kate hisses, suddenly wide awake.

Able to breathe again, he answers with another question. "Did you do that?"

"Yes. You shouldn't have touched me."

"I was going to put you in bed; I'd thought it'd be more comfortable than the couch," he continues to rub his throat. "Are you okay?"

"What?"

"I dropped you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I have to go home, Castle."

"It's late. You should just stay here for the night."

Kate glares at him, "I am not staying with you."

"It's dangerous out there. I don't want something to happen to you."

"I'm a cop, Castle. I have a gun. And as I just demonstrated, I can take care of myself."

"I have a spare room. You don't have to go to work in the morning."

"I am not staying, Castle," she repeats.

"Please, Kate," he whispers.

She shakes her head, turning to head for the door. "I'll see you Monday, Castle. Have a good weekend."

He watches as she walks out of his loft, knowing deep inside of him that it wasn't a good idea for her to leave.

**A/N: This is my first Castle fanfic. I normally write Mac and Stella from CSI:NY but I haven't been very inspired with them lately, especially when she is leaving the show. Anyway, I decided to try writing Castle and Beckett. This takes place somewhere is season three I guess but ignores at least the issues with them splitting up in the finale. It kind of completely ignores Demming too. I'm not sure how long it will end up being, but I've currently got fourteen chapters written. Please tell me what you think so far. Thanks.**


	2. In the Hospital

**Chapter 2: In the Hospital**

Castle's phone rings early the next morning, waking him from his peaceful slumber. Assuming it's Beckett because no one else is crazy enough to call him this early, let alone on a Saturday, he answers. "How can I help you today, Detective?"

"Castle, it's Beckett."

The voice, Esposito's, was not the one he was expecting to hear. He immediately sits up, throwing the blankets off of him as he practically runs to his closet. "What's wrong?"

"She was attacked in her apartment last night."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's got a broken wrist and a pretty deep gash on her forehead from hitting it on the table. Minor concussion, but all in all, she's fine," Esposito informs Castle.

"I'll be there in half an hour." Rick quickly gets dressed, not really paying attention to what he grabs from the hangers, and scribbles a note to his daughter about his whereabouts before jogging out the door to hail a cab.

**CB**

"What happened?" Castle asks as he approaches Captain Montgomery, who is waiting outside of Beckett's hospital room.

"Some guy attacked her inside of her apartment last night. She says she had just gotten home and was walking through the living room to the bedroom when she noticed something on the coffee table was off. Things had been moved around. She heard footsteps behind her and turned just as the guy hit her. All she remembers of him is that he was average size and had dark brown hair. We assume she hit her head on the coffee table and blacked out. CSU is going over her place to see what we can find of the guy."

"She wasn't… was she?" he can't bring himself to say the word as he peers in the window. She is laying in a hospital bed, her left wrist in a white cast and a white piece of gauze covering the left side of her forehead.

"No. There was no sign of… rape, but they did an assault kit anyway. Negative."

"Can we go in?" Castle asks.

"If you want," he shrugs, then smirks, realizing that Castle did not know about the detective's hatred of hospitals.

Castle quietly enters the hospital room, "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" she snaps at him.

He frowns, surprised by her harsh tone. "I… I'm sorry about what happened to you. I should have made you stay."

"Go ahead and say it."

"Say what?"

"I told you so."

"Kate, don't do this."

"Do what?"

He shakes his head at her, "Don't push away the people that care about you. What happened to you wasn't your fault. Nobody is going to see you as weak because of what happened."

"Castle, do something useful and find a doctor so I can get out of here." Her tone softens a bit, but her anger at the situation is still visible.

"Okay," he concedes, deciding to give her space for a few moments so she could calm down. He turns back to Montgomery after exiting the room, "How long does she have to stay?"

"A few hours at the least. Overnight wouldn't hurt but she won't agree to it."

"I take it you haven't told her that."

"Nope."

"Can't they just drug her and make it easier?"

The captain laughs, "That sure would make it easier. And she would definitely shoot you if she knew you said that."

A doctor approaches them, "Are you with Miss Beckett?" When they nod, he invites them inside the room to talk. "How are you feeling?"

"That depends. Can I leave now?" she asks.

"No. Actually, we do not want you to be alone for the next few days just in case anything happens due to the concussion you suffered. Is there a friend you can stay with or… a boyfriend perhaps…?" the doctor looks toward Castle.

"He's not my boyfriend," she quickly corrects him. She takes a moment to think about where she could stay. Lanie had an extra room, but she also had a boyfriend, and Kate didn't want to get in the way, especially since her friend seemed to really like this guy. There wasn't really anyone but Lanie. Except…

"You can stay with me," Rick offers. "I have an extra bedroom… and if you had accepted my offer to use it last night, you wouldn't be sitting in a hospital bed right now."

Captain Montgomery looks between Castle and the detective for a moment, then decides that now was not the time to ask what she was doing at Castle's apartment last night. "Kate, take Castle's offer and get out of here before you shoot someone."

"Yes, sir. Thanks, Castle."

"Wait, Richard Castle? The author?" the doctor asks, looking at Castle again.

"Yeah," Castle answers, reaching out to shake the doctor's hand.

"My wife loves your stories."

"Oh, well I'd be happy to autograph a book for her; actually, if you could get her ready to go, I'll run to the gift shop and see if they happen to have a copy of one of my stories."

The doctor turns to Beckett. "You must be Nikki Heat."

"Kate," she answers with a sigh. "My name is Kate. Not Nikki."

"Alright, Kate. I will go write you a prescription for pain medication and send a nurse in to help you," the doctor informs her before leaving.

"I am going to kill you," Kate glares at Castle.

"I believe that I am the one that just got you out of the hospital a lot sooner than you would have if I wasn't here."

"Just go get your stupid book, Castle."

When he returns ten minutes later, a signed copy of _Heat Wave_ for the doctor's wife in hand, the nurse is just finishing with her. "You really should stay at the hospital for a few more hours so that we can make sure you're okay, but if you insist on going, you should stay in bed for at least twenty-four hours to avoid further injury. Don't hesitate to contact us if anything changes."

Castle waits for her outside of the room. When she comes out, he offers her his arm but she ignores it, walking to the exit by herself. He quickly hands the book to the doctor and thanks him on his way out as Beckett continues to walk, furthering the distance between them. He manages to catch up with her at the curb as she stumbles while trying to hail a cab, and he grabs her arm to keep her from falling.

"Get your hand off of me," she tries to pull away from him. He keeps his hand on her as he helps her into the cab. When they are both settled in the cab, he gives the driver his address. "We have to go to my apartment," Beckett argues.

"You're apartment is a crime scene. We can't go in it."

"I need clothes and… stuff."

"You can borrow an old t-shirt of mine to rest in today," he offers, and she frowns in disgust. "If you're feeling better, I will take you shopping tomorrow so you can get a few things that you need."

"The precinct. Stop at the precinct. I have some things there I can use."

Castle informs the cabbie of the detour, and when they pull up outside of the station, she doesn't protest as he helps her inside.

The moment they step off of the elevator, Ryan and Esposito run toward them. "Beckett, what are you doing here?" Ryan asks.

"I have to get some things."

"Oh, we thought we were going to have to give you a lecture about working when you are sick."

"I'm not sick, guys. I'm fine."

"Then why did they put you on bed rest?" Castle asks. Kate frowns at him, wondering how he knew. "I heard the nurse. Now, you have three minutes to get what you need; you are not going to trick me into letting you stay here the rest of the day. Then we are going home, and you are going to stay in bed until tomorrow morning."

She sighs, heading to the locker room to gather the clothes that she kept there as she admits defeat, knowing that the guys were not going to let her stay even if it required the use of handcuffs to force her to leave the station.

Castle takes her bag from her when she returns. He holds his free arm out to her, but she ignores it. "Alright, guys. We'll see you Monday hopefully. Please call if you learn anything," he requests.

"We will. Get some rest, Beckett," Esposito instructs her. She simply rolls her eyes before following Castle to the elevator.

Once they are settled in the cab on the way to his apartment, Kate watches him for a few moments before speaking. "You didn't have to do this, Castle."

"Do what?"

"Let me invade your home. I could've managed by myself."

"I don't think so," he smiles. "Besides the fact that you cannot be alone for a few days, you don't have a place to stay. And you're not invading, Kate; you're welcome in my home any time."

"I just… I'm sure you had plans for the weekend. And writing to get done."

"I can still get some writing done this weekend. I believe Alexis was going out with some friends tonight so it will just be the two of us," Rick grins at her. "Actually, you'll probably have to convince her not to cancel her plans."

"Does she know…?"

"She wasn't up so I left a note for her. By now she's probably put a hole in the floor with her pacing."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are appreciated. I will try to start replying to them, but I've never been good at that.**


	3. Worried Family

**Chapter 3: Worried Family**

"You're alright," Alexis dashes to the door, practically knocking Kate to the floor as she hugs the detective.

Rick rests a hand on her back to keep her steady. "Alexis, dear, you don't want to break any more of her bones, do you?" he teases. He knew Kate wasn't really one for hugging and wasn't sure how she'd respond to his daughter's attack.

Alexis quickly steps back, "Sorry, I just… I hope I didn't hurt you."

Beckett smiles reassuringly at the girl, "It's okay."

"Detective Beckett is going to be staying with us for a few days since her apartment is a crime scene," Castle explains to her.

"Alright. If there's anything I can help you with while you stay with us, don't be afraid to ask." Alexis heads up to her room to leave the two adults alone.

Kate is glad that the teenager does not ask questions about what happened, unlike her father, although he had not yet asked her what had happened.

"I'm going to get Detective Beckett settled in bed, then I will make brunch for everyone since I assume neither one of you has eaten," he looks from Beckett to the teenager at the top of the stairs.

"Castle, I -" she starts to protest.

"Beckett, the nurse said that you need to stay in bed."

"I know, Castle. But… I need to take a shower. I need to get him off of me. I mean, I really don't know what happened last night…"

"Okay," he nods, understanding. "I'll take you up to Alexis and Mother's bathroom. Mine's kind of messy at the moment."

"Thanks," she gives him a small smile before following him up the steps.

"I'm, uh… going to have Alexis help you. I'm sure it'd be more comfortable for you," he knocks on his daughter's door.

"What do you need?" the red head asks, opening her door.

"Detective Beckett wants to take a shower, and I thought it'd be better if you helped her out while I cook."

"Sure," she leads Kate to the bathroom as her father heads downstairs. "Here is a towel," she places a blue towel from under the sink on the counter. "Are those okay?" she asks, pointing to the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash already in the shower.

"They're fine," she looks down at the floor, embarrassed about having to ask for help. "I, uh… don't exactly have clothes for… um, resting and sleeping."

"You can borrow a t-shirt and shorts from me. Or sweatpants or whatever. I can go lay some stuff out for you to choose from."

"That'd be great. I have a bag somewhere; I don't know what your father did with it, but I have some stuff in there."

"I'll go find it for you. Do you need to cover your cast so it doesn't get wet?" The detective nods. "One of my friends broke her arm in middle school. She said she wrapped her cast in saran wrap and rubber banded it to her arm. We could try that."

She nods, "Okay. I don't have any better ideas."

Minutes later Alexis returns, all the supplies that Beckett needed in her arms. She sets some clothes on the counter by the towels and wraps the detective's arm for her. "I'll be in my room so if you need anything else just yell."

"Thanks," Kate watches her go before trying to undress herself with one hand so that she could bathe.

Thirty minutes later she emerges from the bathroom in a New York t-shirt and shorts, her hair still wet as she could barely brush it with just one hand.

"Better?" Alexis asks, looking up from her book upon seeing the detective in her doorway.

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to wash those for you?" Alexis gestures to the clothes in her hands that she had been wearing since the previous day.

"Actually, they probably should go to the crime lab. I doubt they will get anything useful but…"

"Detective Beckett, I'm so sorry," the teenager apologizes, realizing what she had done.

"What's wrong?" Kate asks, confused.

"Your clothes could've had evidence on them, and I just contaminated it and now they might never find out who attacked you and…"

"It's fine, Alexis," Kate rests her good hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm not sure why they didn't take them at the hospital, and I didn't even realize that they didn't until a few minutes ago."

"You're not going to arrest me for contaminating evidence, are you?"

"Of course not. Actually… do you think that I could… have your shirt to take to the lab too?"

"Yeah, if it might help find the guy who attacked you, you can have it," Alexis goes to her closet to select another shirt.

"I'll meet you downstairs. I've got to call the precinct so someone can stop by and pick this stuff up," the detective exits the bedroom and almost runs into Castle.

"Hey, I was coming to see what was taking you guys so long," he tells her.

"Well, I only have one hand, Castle."

"Yes, I am well aware of that," he studies her cast. "You know… I could write you a story on there so it wouldn't be so white and boring."

"No thanks."

"Sure? I could make it a dirty story."

"That's not very appropriate, Castle."

"Do I ever do appropriate?"

She rolls her eyes. "Can I borrow your phone? I need to call the captain and see why they didn't take my clothes when I was at the hospital."

"Probably because you didn't have any other clothes. And as much as I would have like it, I'm sure you didn't want to leave the hospital naked," he smirks.

"You are so lucky that my gun is in my apartment," she glares at him.

Alexis exits the bedroom, finding the two adults standing at the top of the stairs. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Beckett says before taking his cell phone from his hand and heading down the stairs.

"Breakfast is getting cold," Rick wraps his arm around his daughter's shoulders and leads her to the kitchen.

Kate joins them a few minutes later. "Ryan and Esposito will be here in half an hour to pick up the clothes. They didn't take them at the hospital because nobody thought to grab anything else for me to wear. They also need elimination DNA samples from both of you."

Castle hands her a plate full of chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. He then pours her a glass of orange juice. She frowns as he places it in front of her. "You are not having coffee, Beckett. You did not sleep at all last night – and no, being unconscious does not count as sleeping – therefore you are going straight to bed after breakfast."

"But -"

"I am perfectly capable of giving the guys your clothes when they come. When you wake up, you can call them to ask whether they have any leads."

All three of them look up when they hear the front door open and shut. Seconds later Martha walks into the kitchen. "Hello, dears."

"Hi, Gram," Alexis smiles.

"Mother, what brings you by this morning?"

"Someone," she glances at Alexis, "called me to tell me that Kate was in the hospital. I thought you guys would be gone all day so I figured I'd come give my granddaughter company."

Alexis blushes, "Sorry. But your note was kind of vague, Dad."

"Good lord, dear, how many stitches did they put in your head?" Martha rests a hand on Kate's shoulder.

"Ten."

Rick looks up, seeming to notice the stitches just below her hairline for the first time. Guilt overwhelms him as he realizes that she would have a permanent scar on her forehead to remind him of his mistake.

"How did it happen?"

"He, uh… pushed me, and I hit my head on the coffee table."

"Mother, please, she doesn't know very much. And it's my job to bother her for information," he smirks at Beckett.

She gives him a grateful look for his interference before turning back to his mother. "So, Martha, have you been working on anything lately?"

"Oh, not really. I'm still waiting to hear from a couple shows I auditioned for."

"Mother, would you care to join us?" Castle finally asks.

"Oh, sure, Chet had to go to the grocery; we ran out of food."

"Sounds like someone else I know," he glances at Kate, but she doesn't respond. Setting his fork down, he fills a plate for his mother before returning to the table.

"So what are you all up to today?" Martha asks.

"I'm on bed rest all day," Kate sighs.

"I have to make sure she stays in bed. And get some writing done for the next Nikki Heat novel."

"I was going to go out with Paige later, but I'm not sure that leaving the two of them alone is the best idea," she looks at her father.

"We'll be fine, Alexis," Beckett tries to reassure her. "Besides, if your father misbehaves, I'll just hit him over the head with my cast and knock him unconscious for a while."

Alexis smiles, "Well, when you put it that way…"

"Alright, I think someone needs to get some rest," Rick stands and takes his plate and Kate's to the sink.

"See you guys later," Kate smiles before following him out of the kitchen.

**A/N: Sorry I did not get around to replying to the reviews. I thought you'd appreciate a new chapter though, so I will try to reply this time. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Alter Egos

**Chapter 4: Alter Egos **

"Castle, what are you doing?"

He freezes, his hand beside her on the bed. "I was just…" he eyes slowly travel up the blankets to meet hers.

"Castle."

"I brought you some books to read," he gestures to the nightstand.

She holds his gaze for another moment before looking at the stack of books. _Heat Wave _and_ Naked Heat_ are on top. "I'm not as self-absorbed as you, Castle. I do not need to read about my alter ego."

"I thought that you'd like to read about my alter ego since you like me so much," Rick grins.

She shakes her head as she sits up. "What time is it?"

"Almost five. Both Mother and Alexis have left."

"Good."

"Good? Do you have plans for us, Detective Beckett?"

This time she rolls her eyes, "No, I meant it's good that Alexis didn't cancel her plans just because of me."

"Esposito and Ryan called a little bit ago. They didn't get a hit on any of the prints from your apartment except the ones that belonged to you. There were a couple hairs and fibers on your clothes that they're still working with."

"What about surveillance videos?"

"They had just been delivered to the precinct. But you couldn't give them a detailed description of the guy so it might be hard to find him."

"I got home after midnight. How many people could have left the building between me coming home and the paramedics showing up?" she frowns.

"Give them time, Kate. They said they'd call the second they got a solid lead."

Kate looks away from him, "So, uh… what are we doing tonight?"

"Well… we could watch a movie. I do get every channel known to mankind. And we have an enormous amount of DVDs. Or you could read while I try to write some more."

"Are you past your deadline again?"

"No, but I promised myself I wouldn't get as far behind as I did with the last one."

"So for once in your life you're trying to be semi-responsible…?"

"Yes, with emphasis on the once."

"Reading sounds good. Just not about you and me."

"You are welcome to any book in my office. You could read _Twilight_, but I think Alexis is hording those in her room somewhere."

"I'll pass."

"You can browse my selection of books while I finish preparing dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Yeah, that meal that you often miss because you are too busy working."

"If you keep feeding me, I'm going to be fat."

"No, you won't. Besides, homemade food is supposed to be healthier than the takeout that you eat so often."

Kate rolls her eyes, "I can't get any exercise with only one hand."

"Oh, I know a good way for you to burn off all those calories. And having only one hand is not a problem. It takes two people for it to work, but I'd be more than willing to help you out." Castle ducks as she swings her arm at his head.

"Seriously, Castle," she rolls her eyes again at his inappropriate comment, "just when I begin to think you actually care, you have to say something inappropriate. Every single time."

"I can't be serious all the time, Beckett. Do you know how boring life would be that way? Oh, wait, I think you do," he smirks.

**CB**

"Dinner was good," Beckett compliments him. "I didn't know you could cook more than breakfast foods."

"I figured I ought to learn when Meredith and I got divorced. I couldn't have Alexis eating unhealthy all the time." He takes her plate to the sink.

"Do you need me to help you with those?"

"No, I'll just put them in the dishwasher later. Besides, you can't do much with one hand, and you're supposed to be resting."

"I feel fine, Castle," she stands and heads to the living room, curling up in the chair that Alexis had been in the previous night.

"I take it you found something," he sits down on the couch with his laptop. She holds up _Crime and Punishment_. "Ah, not your typical mystery novel but good nevertheless."

"You have quite the collection."

"You should see my library in the Hamptons. My office just has my favorites and Alexis's."

"And the collection of your twenty-eight bestsellers."

"Of course. I have to show them off."

She shakes her head and opens the book, reading to herself as Castle clicks away on his keyboard. When she notices that the background noise of his typing has stopped over an hour later, she looks up. "Castle, is it really necessary to stare?"

"Just thinking."

"Yeah, well stare at something else and think."

"But it's so easy to stare at you."

"It's also creepy," Kate continues to watch him until he turns back to his computer.

Rick starts to type again, stealing glances at her occasionally. He soon finds himself ending chapter five of the third Nikki Heat book and unsure of where he wants to take the story next. As he thinks, his eyes wander over to the detective automatically.

"Castle."

"What?"

"You're staring again."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Why does that bother you so much?" he asks, turning back to the computer to save his work before shutting it.

"Because I don't know what you're thinking."

"I don't think bad things about you."

"But you do think inappropriate things. And the whole world knows about your inappropriate thoughts since you made me your muse."

"I can't help that I find you fascinating."

Beckett closes her book, "Why me?"

"You're strong, independent, can stand up against everything that's said about what you do whether it comes from suspects or your colleagues. You genuinely care about the victims and their families, which comes from your own experience in their position. You're dedicated to helping them learn the truth and put your life on the line everyday to bring that to them. You terrify suspects that are twice your size and even some of your colleagues; you get frustrated when you're not in control of a situation, which is why you hate me so much. This makes you the best at what you do, even without me by your side to offer my assistance."

"Okay… so where did the slutty part of Nikki Heat come from?" She wants to know, and since he is being completely open with her at the moment, she voices her question.

"You have a past, one that you like to hide from me. I get the feeling you weren't always as guarded as you are now, that you used to take risks," he chooses his words carefully, not wanting to offend her. "Your mother's death changed you, but I think you could learn to let go again, maybe not as much as before but still let go, if you found the right person. With Rook, Nikki Heat can do that. Maybe she isn't to the point of admitting how she feels about him, but it's a start. Kate Beckett, on the other hand, does not appear to be anywhere near letting go, but she will be with time."

"So that's why you had to put yourself in the novel."

"Yes, I had to have someone stir up Nikki Heat's life. Just like I'm doing to you. I mean, we have such a unique relationship…"

"And you wanted to share it with the world."

"Yep."

"Even though some of what you wrote isn't true."

"Come on, Kate. I had to give readers something."

"But that means you have to think about me like that, and I'm not exactly comfortable knowing that you thought about me like that. I mean… I know men do think about those things, but when you write it down in your book, it's so… disturbing to know what you're actually thinking."

Castle hesitates for a moment, unsure of what to say to her. Deciding to be honest with her and hoping to move forward in their relationship, he responds, "I've never exactly hidden how I feel about you, Kate."

"Castle… please don't do this. It's not worth it…" she quietly tells him, closing her eyes as she turns her head from him.

"Why not?" he asks, equally as quiet. "Why can't we do this?"

"Because we work together. Because of all the fame and attention that comes with being a Castle. Because of your reputation. Because you are too much of a risk for me. Because… I couldn't handle losing you too," Beckett lists her reasons, still refusing to meet his gaze.

Rick silently sits on the couch and stares at her. He patiently waits as she tries to compose herself, unsure of how to proceed. He could drop the topic and continue waiting for Kate to see how much she means to him, or he could press on, dismissing all of her arguments against a relationship.

After five full minutes of her averting her gaze from him, he stands, laptop in hand, and heads to his office. "You know… Rook would change for Nikki if she asked him to."

**A/N: I would like to thank all of you that read and reviewed the last chapter. Of course when I decided to actually reply to reviews, you guys had to send me twice as many as before. Hopefully you guys liked this chapter too because there are going to be more conversations like this coming up. And more Alexis. Thanks.**


	5. Girl Talk

**Chapter 5: Girl Talk**

Alexis enters the loft and immediately heads to the stairs leading up to her bedroom. She freezes when she sees Beckett alone in the living room, curled up in the armchair and looking upset. "Detective Beckett?"

Kate looks up, "Alexis. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah. Is… everything okay? Dad didn't leave you here all alone or… do something stupid, did he? I mean, you are always threatening to shoot him, and I'm sure you could get away with murdering him."

"I wouldn't shoot him. That wouldn't be good for you. I think he's in his office."

The younger girl shakes her head, "He seriously left you alone out here while he writes?"

"I'm not sure that he's writing," the detective says slowly. "He's… probably doing a lot of thinking, and he's probably not too happy with me right now."

"Did I miss something?"

Kate doesn't answer, not sure that opening up to Alexis was the best idea.

"He did do something stupid, didn't he?"

After a moment, she nods. "Kind of stupid. And kind of sweet."

"I know I'm just a teenager, and it'd probably be kind of awkward, but if you ever want to talk to me, I'll listen. Or if you want to talk to Dr. Parish, you can borrow my phone; Dad has a habit of eavesdropping when you use the home phone," Alexis offers, not wanting to force the detective to do anything, especially since her dad had apparently messed things up again. "I'll be upstairs reading if you need anything."

Kate watches Alexis head up the stairs, debating what she should do. Whenever she had a problem, she either went to Lanie or Castle. Castle was out of the question on this one since it was him that she needed help with. Lanie… well, she knew exactly what Lanie would say to this, and she wasn't sure that she could do that.

After contemplating it for a few moments, she follows Alexis upstairs, remembering that Castle had often said that it was Alexis that helped him solve cases. She stops in the bedroom doorway, "Can I take you up on that offer?"

Alexis looks up from her book, "Sure." She scoots over so that the detective can sit beside her on the bed. "He told you, right? Dad told you how he feels about…"

"Yeah. Well, not exactly. More like alluded to it with Nikki and Rook."

"And?"

"I'm not ready for that. I may never be. I don't even know how I feel about him."

"Obviously you like him," Alexis begins, and Kate glares at her. "As a friend. You seem comfortable around him."

"As comfortable as anyone can be around a man making innuendos all the time."

Alexis smirks, "Dad was never good at hiding his feelings."

"That's an understatement."

"So… why can't you try being more than friends out? See how you feel about him?"

"We work together. I've already lost enough respect in the precinct from being his muse, and being his girlfriend would just make that worse. And if we try to be more than friends, the whole world will know. I really don't want my face on all of the tabloids."

"I can understand that. He likes being in the spotlight, and you're more of a behind the scenes type person. Dad works hard to keep them away from me, but it would be different for you. And they know that you're his muse."

Beckett looks down at her hands, "And then there's the fact that he is Castle, and he has a certain reputation… which I'm sure I shouldn't be discussing with you."

"I know about his reputation. We don't discuss it, and he tries to hide it from me, but I know," Alexis admits. "He's really… toned it down since he met you though. There haven't been nearly as many women around. It could just be because he's shadowing you around the clock, but… I think it also has something to do with your disapproval of his lifestyle."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Dad won't admit it, but he values your approval of his actions. I guess you wouldn't really know that since he still goes around doing the opposite of what you tell him to."

"Don't tell him this but… it wouldn't be the same if he actually listened to me. And he knows when he can get away with it and when he can't during a case."

Alexis smiles, "I won't tell him anything that has been said in this room. I hope you know you can trust me because I'm not like my dad."

"I know that. I'm still amazed at how the two of you could be related."

"I seriously think I was switched when I was in the hospital or something. I mean… both of them are a little… irresponsible and crazy, but I like to think that I'm mature and… normal."

Kate smiles back, "As normal as you can be with the parents you have."

"Look, Detective Beckett," the teenager tries to be serious again. "Dad really cares about you. I've never seen him like this with any of the other women he's dated, not even Gina. Or my mom, but I wasn't here before they were married to know what it was like between them. I really think you should give him a chance. You know… if I could choose who my next stepmom would be, I would vote for you."

The detective looks away from the red-headed girl. "That's… sweet and all, Alexis, but it's a lot more complicated."

"I know. But I'm confident that the two of you can work it out if you really want to. And… Dad's going to be lonely when I'm at school next year so…"

"Are you trying to pressure me into something?" Kate teases.

"I'm just saying… you're going to be seeing a lot more of Dad in the fall; he can't stand to be alone for long periods of time. Whether it's at the precinct or outside of it is your choice."

"Right now all I can promise is that I'll think about it. Your father and I have become good friends over the past couple years, and I'm not sure I could stand to lose that if it didn't work out."

"I think Dad would do anything to make things work between the two of you," Alexis says quietly.

Beckett sits silently for a moment before rising from the bed. "I should let you get some rest."

"Good night, Detective Beckett," she says, picking her book up again.

"Thanks for listening," she makes her way to the door before turning back around. "You can call me Kate."

The girl looks up, "Sure?"

"Yeah. I mean… you can't keep calling me Detective Beckett if your father and I do… start dating. And you both seem to think that it's inevitable that we will."

"Good night, Kate," Alexis smiles.

"Night." Kate makes her way down the stairs and towards the chair she had occupied earlier to get her book.

Castle opens his office door, "Beckett."

"Hey," she says slowly. She hadn't been expecting to see him until the next morning.

"You and Alexis were talking?"

"Yeah. She's a good listener."

"She gets that from me," he gives her a small smile.

She rolls her eyes, "You don't listen very well, Castle."

Rick pauses before speaking again. "Can we talk?"

"Castle… I need time to think about things."

"Time to figure out how to turn me down?"

"Rick…" she hesitates, realizing she could count on one hand the number of times she had used his first name. "I need time. Lots of time. I'm not turning you down, but… I'm not ready for things between us to move forward yet."

"Kate, you are serious about this, right? You're not giving me false hope?"

She shakes her head, "We will try, Castle. Just… we have to take things slowly. I have to adjust to this."

"Okay. If there's anything at all I can do to help you, let me know."

She nods in acknowledgement. "I'm going to go to bed. See you tomorrow."

"Good night."

Kate makes her way to the guest bedroom where she had napped earlier and crawls under the covers. She opens _Crime and Punishment_ to read another chapter before going to sleep.

Castle softly knocks on the doorframe before entering her room. "Sorry to interrupt but I have something for you."

He holds out an envelope, which she takes. 'Nikki Heat c/o Kate Beckett' is written on the front, followed by Castle's address. "Why is someone sending me mail at your house?" she asks, breaking the seal.

Shrugging, he says, "That's why I came in here. I have no idea what it is."

She pulls out a single sheet of paper and unfolds it.

Rick watches her face as she reads the letter, for once not trying to read over her shoulder. Her frown deepens the further down the page she gets. "What is it?" he finally asks.

"A fan letter. A very disturbing fan letter." He tries to grab it from her, but she moves it out of his reach. "Castle, this could be evidence."

"I get hate mail all the time. You should have seen how much came when I killed Derrick Storm. I guess someone just doesn't like Nikki Heat. You don't have to take it personally, Beckett," he reaches out again.

"Did you ever consider that one of your fans might be behind this?" she holds up her cast.

**A/N: Thought I'd bring Alexis more into this before going back to deep conversations between Castle and Beckett later. And I think I did read somewhere that she was supposed to be some help to them... but she probably talks more with her father than Beckett about their relationship. Anyway... I'm going to try to at least reply every other chapter to reviews. I towards the end of writing chapter eighteen write now, and I think I'm going to wrap it up at twenty if I can figure out how I want it to end. Thanks for reading.**


	6. Fan Mail and Guilt

**Chapter 6: Fan Mail and Guilt**

"Do you really think that one of my fans is so obsessed with Nikki Heat that he broke in to your apartment to attack you?" Castle asks as they sit in the living room waiting for Esposito and Ryan to come. "I'd think that if some guy was obsessed with your alter ego he would do more than shove you into a table."

"I don't think he intended for me to black out. He probably thought I was dead and fled so he wouldn't get caught." She stares straight ahead, deep in thought, "But then why would he write me a letter admitting that he was the one that attacked me?"

"He's watching you," the novelist answers. "He knows you're still alive, and he'll probably come after you again so he can get what he wants."

"It still doesn't make sense. The letter is addressed to Nikki; he's talking to her the whole time like she's real. But the envelope suggests that he recognizes that she's just a character based on me."

"He's probably crazy, Kate. He doesn't need to be logical."

She looks over at him, "You're the one always telling me that things don't add up."

"Yeah, well we weren't dealing with crazy people that wanted to kill you before."

"I don't think he wants to kill me," the detective says slowly.

"What he wants to do is equally as bad. Kate, I -"

There is a knock on his door, and he stops speaking to answer it. "Hey, guys."

The two detectives nod at him before turning to their boss. "How are you feeling?" Esposito asks her.

"Fine. Any progress?"

"We've looked through surveillance videos from your apartment over and over. He knows the cameras are there, and he never lets them get a decent shot of his face," Ryan tells her, having drawn the short straw earlier.

"So we have nothing?"

"Pretty much. There is no way to identify this guy."

"And this letter won't help us; we can just confirm that the guy who sent it is the guy that attacked me," Kate hands the paper over to the boys after they have put gloves on.

"Castle, you sure got some crazy fans," Esposito addresses the writer.

"What's it say? She wouldn't let me read it," he asks.

"Let's just say he's obsessed. And since Nikki Heat isn't real, he's going after the next best thing: the detective that inspired the character," Ryan seals the letter in an evidence bag, deciding not to let Castle see it because he would just blame himself for what happened to his muse.

"Where'd it come from?"

"I found it in the mail sitting on the table."

"Alexis brought it in when she came," Beckett clarifies for him. "The envelope's on the table. No return address and no postage stamp. Must have snuck it in to the pile before it left the post office, or he bribed the mailman."

"Or he broke into the mailbox and put it there," Castle provides.

She glances at him, "That's the best you've got?"

"It's late, and your safety is at stake," he replies.

"We're going to need elimination prints from both Castles. And we need to talk to Alexis, make sure she doesn't know anything."

"She's upstairs sleeping," Castle looks toward his muse for confirmation. "I can wake her if you want."

"Yeah, then we can put a rush on this," Esposito holds up the letter.

Once the writer is gone, the detectives move closer to their boss. "You really okay?" Ryan asks.

"Yeah, guys. Nothing's happened until Castle found that in the mail."

"Nothing?" Esposito asks, a slight smirk on his face.

She glares at him, "Like I would tell you two if anything did happen."

"We'll just get it from Lanie. Or Castle… we all know how he loves to talk," Ryan grins.

"There is nothing to talk about," she hisses as the father and daughter come down.

"Hey," Alexis says, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "What happened?"

"Detective Beckett got a… threatening letter in the mail. We were wondering if you knew anything about it."

"No, I brought the mail up when I came home a couple hours ago," the teenager says. The news that Alexis had left the two alone causes the detectives to look at their boss again, still smiling.

"Did you move any of it around?" Ryan prompts.

"No, I carried it up exactly as it was. I wasn't expecting anything so I didn't flip through it at all."

"Anything unusual with the mailbox?" Esposito asks.

"Actually now that you mention it, the box was unusually hard to open today. I just figured someone was trying to open the wrong box with their key, which made it stick when I tried to open it."

"Could be something in there from the tools the guy used to open it. We'll send CSU in to look at it," Ryan says.

"Can we get fingerprints from you two to eliminate yours from the suspect's?"

"Sure," Alexis holds her hands out.

"Are my prints going to end up in the database?" Rick asks, pausing before holding his hands out as well.

"It won't matter unless you do something wrong," Beckett smirks.

The two men fingerprint the Castles after which Alexis heads back to bed. "So what did you two do all day?" Esposito asks.

"I wrote. And cooked. She slept and read," the writer answers before flashing a grin at the boys. "Are you two digging for details?"

They look at each other before nodding. "She wouldn't tell us anything."

"Well… I don't kiss and tell, boys, so you'll have to dig elsewhere."

"Oh, so there was kissing involved?" The boys have identical grins on their faces.

"I'm going to kill you two if you don't get back to work," Kate glares at them.

"We're leaving now so that we can find the guy that attacked you before he can do it again. Just so you know… and don't kill us," Ryan heads to the door.

"Montgomery said you're not to be at the precinct until Tuesday. They'll probably let you back into your apartment Monday afternoon sometime, but I'm sure you're having a wonderful time here," Esposito closes the door behind him.

Castle follows them and locks the door before turning around. "No work until Tuesday means we can sleep in."

She pulls her knees to her chest, deep in thought.

He watches her for a moment, "They don't know about… us, do they?"

"No," she shakes her head, then looks at him. "Just teasing. But they can't know. Not that there's anything to know because we're not really official or anything."

"Alright. I won't tell anyone until you tell me I can." Rick slowly sits down beside her on the couch, "But that's not what's bothering you, is it?"

Again Kate does not respond.

"Kate… I'm sorry about all of this. It's my fault," he apologizes. "If I had just let you go home last night instead of forcing you to come over, he might be in custody right now. If I hadn't offered you a beer, you might have been able to fight him off."

"It's not your fault, Castle," she begins, but he quickly cuts her off.

"If I had kept your name out of it, you might not have these crazy people trying to kill you and… whatever else they're trying to do. I should have kept your name out of the press to protect you."

She rests a hand on his arm, "It would've gotten out. Rick, this isn't your fault. You don't have to apologize."

"Maybe I shouldn't have created Nikki Heat. You'd be safe that way."

"And bored. You help keep the job light, Castle. And what exactly would you be doing with yourself if you weren't following me around?"

"Writing probably. Wouldn't have been as successful as Nikki Heat or Derrick Storm, but it would sell just because of my name."

"You have to ignore the what ifs. We all make choices, and you can't dwell on what could have happened if you would have picked differently. What happened to me is not your fault, Castle."

"That doesn't mean you don't blame me," he says quietly.

"I don't blame you. These people would have just fixated on someone else if you didn't create Nikki Heat. It's better that it's me instead of some innocent person."

"Kate, you don't have to carry everyone's burden. You can't possibly save everyone from harm. You do enough by putting the bad guys away so they can't repeat what they've done."

"Would you rather someone be obsessed with the detective that can protect herself or your daughter?" she asks.

He opens his mouth to tell that apparently she couldn't protect herself as well as she thought since she is currently in a cast but decides that that is not the best thing to say to her. "I would rather neither of you be in danger."

"I'm going to bed, Castle. It's late," Kate stands up and heads down the hall to the guest bedroom.

"Night," he calls after her. After taking a moment to think about what she had said, he too goes to bed.

**A/N: I was trying to finish this story up before I leave for school on Sunday but I don't think that's going to happen. I'm at the end of chapter nineteen and not quite sure how I want it to end. I think it will have to be more than twenty chapters. Anyway... thanks for reading. I'll update Wednesday maybe.**


	7. Shopping

**Chapter 7: Shopping**

"Good morning," Alexis smiles when Kate walks into the kitchen. "I didn't think anyone else would be up this early."

"Habit," Beckett takes a seat on one of the bar stools. "Do you happen to know where your dad put the pain pills the doctor gave me?"

"Um…" the teenager looks around the counter. "There," she spots the bottle by the sink and hands it to the detective along with a cup of coffee. "How long were you guys up last night?"

"Pretty late."

"So, uh… what exactly was in the letter you got?"

Kate looks up at Alexis, "It was a threatening letter to Nikki Heat. Your father doesn't know any more than that, and he probably wouldn't be too happy if I gave you the details."

"Because he'd be jealous or because it's gruesome?"

"Both. He didn't need to know what exactly was written; he was already upset about what had happened."

Alexis nods in understanding, "Yeah, he was a wreck when that guy blew up your apartment."

"That wasn't his fault and neither is this, but he still blames himself."

"You want an omelet? I was going to cook breakfast this morning, but Dad probably won't be up for a while so we can go ahead and eat."

"Sure. Can I help you?"

"Nah, I got it. What do you want in it?" Alexis open the fridge, pulling out the eggs and other supplies.

"I'll just have whatever you're having."

"You guys have plans for today?"

"I don't think so. Were you and your dad going to do something today?"

"No, he'll probably write some more so he doesn't get behind again. I have reading for English and a couple calculus questions to do still."

As Alexis puts bread in the toaster, her father wonders in. "Ah, I found her." Castle holds his phone out to Beckett. "Your boss woke me up."

"Hello, sir," she takes the phone into the living room.

Montgomery asks her how she is doing before telling her about the case, "The prints matched the ones found in your apartment. However, we've hit a dead end."

"So we wait for him to attack me again?"

"Yes, that's about all we can do," he sighs. "I don't want you alone at any time, Detective. When you come back to work, we may set up a ruse to try and catch him. But I don't want you doing anything stupid to try to get him and end up hurting yourself more."

"I understand, sir."

"Alright. We'll release your apartment today, but if you're staying there, I will have uniforms and plainclothes officers all over that building so that nothing happens to you. So I suggest you just stay with Castle; I'll have officers circling the block to make sure everything is okay."

"Thank you, sir. I'll talk to Castle about it, and call you back later."

"Take care of yourself, Beckett," he says before hanging up.

"Anything?" Castle asks when she returns to the kitchen.

"The letter came from the same person that was in my apartment, but it's still a dead end. They're releasing my apartment today, so I'd like to go get a few things. But… he thought I'd be better off staying here until the guy was in custody. So… if I'm not intruding…" she looks away, not sure how to ask if she can stay.

"You're more than welcome to stay. Right, Dad?" Alexis asks.

"Sure. That way I can protect you if anyone should break in."

"I'll bring my gun when I go back to my apartment," she smiles. The teenager hands Kate a plate.

"Where's mine?" Castle asks, hurt.

"Are you completely incapable of doing anything for yourself?" the red-head asks.

"Yes," Castle smiles. "What am I going to do when you're gone next year?"

"I don't know, Dad. You'll have to find someone else," she looks toward the detective.

"So… what are we going to do today?" he asks, once all three have sat down with their breakfast.

Kate doesn't say anything, not wanting them to feel obligated to include her in their plans. Alexis answers, "Homework to finish."

"Do you still need to go shopping?" he turns to her.

"Not if I go to my apartment."

Castle turns back to his daughter, "I know how much you love going shopping with me for your birthday, but… why don't you and Detective Beckett go?"

"Birthday?" Beckett asks.

"Wednesday," Alexis says. "We normally go out to dinner. And if we're not too full when we get home, we play laser tag. You can join us if you're still staying here."

She shakes her head, "No, I won't impede on your tradition."

"Anyway, you two can spend the afternoon together shopping since, as a man, I do not understand the practice. Then you can stop by her apartment so she can get what she needs, and we can do dinner."

"Okay," Alexis says. "If that's fine with Kate."

"Yeah, I don't really have anything better to do since I can't work."

"Wait, did you say 'Kate?'" he asks his daughter.

"Yeah -"

"I told her it was okay, Castle."

"How come you haven't told me that I can call you Kate?" he pouts.

"Because you can't. But somehow you've managed to break every one of my rules. So what exactly are you going to be doing today, Castle? Going to the precinct to help the boys out? They've hit a dead end without us there."

As they finish up, Castle takes their plates to the sink. "I've got a date with Nikki Heat."

Alexis showers as the writer wraps the detective's cast in saran wrap so that it doesn't get ruined. "Thanks," she stands, surprised that he had managed to keep his innuendoes to himself.

"Sure you don't need someone to help you?"

She rolls her eyes, "No." Of course it couldn't last.

"Are you ever going to let me sign your cast?"

"No, you already told me what you're going to put on it, and since it's inappropriate, you're not getting anywhere near me with a marker."

"I can do appropriate if that's what you prefer."

"I'll think about it," she heads up the stairs.

Alexis is just finishing up in the bathroom, "Dad wrapped your arm up for you?"

"Yep."

"Do you need clothes today?"

She shakes her head, "I've got jeans and a shirt in the bag from my locker at the precinct."

"Alright. Call if you need any help," she closes the door behind her.

While Beckett showers, Alexis finishes up her calculus homework and reads one of the three chapters she has to read for English. "Almost done?" she pokes her head in the girl's room.

"Yeah, I can finish reading later."

The two women head down the stairs together. "Bye, Dad," Alexis calls.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he holds his credit card up as he lies on the couch with his laptop.

"Castle, you don't -"

"Since your purse is in your apartment, I think I do have to. Besides, it's Alexis's birthday gifts from me. And if you find anything you want, you're welcome to use it too."

"Castle… you've already done more than enough for me. I couldn't."

"Please do. It'll make me feel better since this is sort of my fault. And you can't say that you don't blame me just a little bit for what happened."

"I don't blame you… but you do annoy me an awful lot," she flashes him an evil grin as his daughter puts the card in her purse.

"And here's money for the cab," he hands his daughter some cash from his wallet.

"Thanks, Dad," she leans down to kiss his cheek. "Have fun with Nikki."

"Oh, I will. Beckett, don't let my daughter buy anything inappropriate," he calls after them.

"Somehow I think we have more reason to be concerned about you doing something inappropriate than you have with us," she teases.

"What kind of trouble can I get in on my couch with my computer?"

"Plenty. Even if Alexis has parental controls set on your computer."

"I can go shopping by myself if the two of you want some alone time…" Alexis offers, teasing the two adults. Beckett blushes while Castle turns his gaze on his daughter, frowning. "I'm almost eighteen, Dad. I'm not as innocent as I was ten years ago."

"Not as innocent? Alexis, what have you done?" Castle sits up, now concerned about his daughter.

"Nothing, Dad. I just meant… I know more than I did ten years ago."

"Alexis?"

"We'll see you later, Castle," Kate exits the apartment, Alexis close behind her.

"Thanks," the teenager says as they step on the elevator.

"No problem since I'm the one who kind of got you into that mess. I understand not wanting to tell your father everything you've done."

"I haven't done anything bad, but… it's still awkward."

She smiles, "I'm sure I'd done worse at your age than you have."

"Really?"

"I'm actually more like Nikki Heat than your father realizes."

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update sooner or reply to reviews but I'm trying to get ready for school. I leave Sunday for college so I'm thinking I'll update one more time before I leave. I'd rather leave you with chapter nine because it's my favorite, but eight will work too. Hopefully I'll be able to connect to the internet and stuff right away so I can update soon after I get there. Please keep reviewing. Thanks.**


	8. Another Attack

**Chapter 8: Another Attack**

Kate gently nudges Alexis in the arm as they look through a rack of clothing. "Does that guy look familiar to you?"

Alexis looks at the guy she indicates and thinks. "Wasn't he at the other store we were just in?"

"And the one before that."

"Do you think he's the guy that's after you?" the teenager whispers, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Why don't you let me take a picture of you on your phone and we can send it to your dad so he sees all the fun he's missing?" she raises her voice from a whisper to her normal volume.

"Sure," Alexis hands over her phone and poses for the camera.

Kate carefully aims the camera towards Alexis but manages to capture a picture of the guy's face over the girl's shoulder. "You try that shirt on while I send this to your dad."

"Okay," she steps into the dressing room and hurriedly tries on the shirt, not wanting to leave the detective alone for too long when her attacker might be just a few racks of clothing away.

Kate types 'I think this is the guy' and send the message with the picture to Esposito. She knew they would get the picture out, see if anyone could identify him. She also knew he would call her soon to ask about it, which meant they had to get out of the store and away from this guy so that she could talk without making him suspect that they were on to him.

"This shirt looks much better on the hanger," Alexis says as she approaches the detective. "I'm not really seeing anything here that I want. You want to go somewhere else?"

"Sure. I know this great store on the other side of town that we can go to."

The two women get into a cab, and Beckett gives the driver her address. "You really think that was him?" Alexis asks.

"I can't be sure. I didn't get a good look at his face the other night. But he was at every store that we went to, looking through racks of women's clothing. Kind of suspicious."

"But he wouldn't do anything, right? I mean, not out in the open."

The cell phone rings, and she answers. "Beckett."

"That's our guy?"

"I think so, but I really couldn't tell you for sure."

"And what makes you think he's the one that attacked you?"

"Alexis and I are out shopping. He's followed us to three stores. And while he glances at us, he pretends to look through women's clothing. Most guys don't buy clothing for their girlfriends or wives so he is up to something."

"Alright. You going back to Castle's now?"

"No, to my place so I can get some things."

"We'll get his picture out, see if anyone knows who he is. We'll call you when we know something."

"Thanks," she hangs up and hands Alexis her phone.

"You'll find him, right?"

"We'll get him," she assures the teenager. "It may take some time, but we'll find him before he can do anything."

"But you have his picture. Someone has to know who he is."

"That is true, but we can't publicize his photograph without scaring him off. He'd probably go into hiding, maybe forget about Nikki Heat altogether. And if he does that, he will most likely end up fixating on someone else in the future."

"But how can you just sit there and wait for him to be caught when he's after you? How do you not panic?"

"Years of training. And knowing that the best people are working the case."

"What if you can't find him even though you have his picture?" Alexis asks, still worried but calming down at the detective's ease with the situation.

"We'll bait him."

"But… he's after you. He's not going to attack just anybody." She ponders this for a moment before realizing what this meant. "Kate… you can't do that. What if something goes wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong. I'll be prepared this time. There will be backup that will come in the moment he enters the apartment."

"What if they don't realize he's in there? You can't defend yourself with one hand."

"Alexis, I'll be fine. And we don't even know that I have to do that yet. There's still a possibility that we'll get a lead from his picture."

The red-head looks out the window without speaking for some time. Kate decides she has to distract the girl and get her mind off of what was happening. "So does your dad always let you pick your birthday presents?"

"Part of them. He always has a few surprises. When I was younger, we'd go to the toy store, and he'd let me pick whatever I wanted. Then it was the bookstore. Now it's mostly clothing."

"That's nice of him."

She nods, "Yeah… it was more fun when I was little, but Dad doesn't like going shopping for clothes too much. Gram had to drag him with us when we went prom dress shopping sophomore year. He doesn't even come to protect his credit card now."

"It's nice that he trusts you."

"Yeah. But he also doesn't have much to worry about money-wise. He's got plenty saved for retirement and for college tuition. Nikki Heat's selling better than the first few Derrick Storm books did when they were first released."

Kate tries not to dwell on this news. "Have you done your college applications yet?"

"Yeah. I don't find out until anywhere between January and April whether I got in."

"What do you want to study?"

"I'm not really sure. I kind of want to do something with criminal justice, I guess from Dad' novels and being with you. But I also like chemistry. And, no offense, but I don't want to be a police officer. You're great at what you do, but I could never do that."

"That's alright. You could go into forensics. The pay isn't the best, but it can be satisfying without putting yourself in danger. Or you're definitely smart enough to go to law school; you can become a prosecutor for the city. You don't have to do anything related to what your father and I do; we'll both be proud of you no matter what you choose."

"Thanks," Alexis smiles shyly.

The cab stops, and the two exit after paying the driver. "I have to get the super to unlock the door; my keys are inside," Kate says.

Five minutes later they are standing in her apartment. "This is nice," Alexis looks around the apartment.

"I'll be in the bedroom packing. You can do whatever," the detective heads to the back while the teenager continues to look around.

As she starts to wonder about what Beckett's old apartment that was blown up looked like, she hears glass shatter in the bedroom. She freezes, unsure whether it was an attack or the detective had dropped something fragile, until she hears a thump against the wall in between the bedroom and living room. Quickly she pulls out her phone and calls 911 for help.

Worried about Kate, she is not sure what she should do. The logical thing would be to wait for help to arrive, but she doesn't want anything to happen to the detective because it would surely break her dad's heart. Alexis notices that a purse is sitting on the table by the door and goes to it. Inside she finds the detective's gun. Even though she did not have the slightest clue as to how to shoot it, she figures the sight of it might be enough to scare the guy off, or at least keep him from hurting Kate.

"Let go of her," Alexis says, trying to sound more composed than she felt.

The man has Kate pressed against the wall, his arm across her throat. She is struggling with both hands to pull it away, and her eyes widen at the sight of Alexis pointing the gun towards her and her captor. "Or what?"

The wail of a siren is heard a few blocks away, and the man freezes. Kate stops fighting, the oxygen depletion having cut off her energy supply. Suddenly he removes his arm and races to the broken window to flee before the cops arrive.

Alexis rushes to Kate, who has sunk to the floor and is gasping for air. "Are you okay?" The detective nods, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the wall.

Moments later they hear the door open, and two officers run in. They freeze in the doorway, looking at the two. "Drop your weapon," one of them says, cautiously stepping closer.

Alexis drops the gun. "It's okay. I'm Detective Kate Beckett. My badge is in my purse… on the table by the door," Kate identifies herself, bracing her good hand against the wall as she attempts to stand.

One officer goes to look for her badge while the other approaches them to pick up the gun, still glancing cautiously at Alexis. "What happened?"

Before she can answer, footsteps are heard in the apartment, and Ryan, Esposito, Montgomery, and Lanie rush in. "Beckett?" the captain says, glancing at the broken window.

"I was trying to pack so I could go back to Castle's. He came through the window, and before I could react, he had me against the wall. His arm was on my throat. Alexis…" she hesitates.

Lanie approaches to check her friend out. "I can already see the bruises starting to appear on her neck."

"Same guy you guys saw earlier?" Ryan asks, phone out.

"Yeah." He immediately steps out to make a call, and Esposito follows.

"Alexis, can you give your statement to this officer here?" the captain asks.

"Sure." The two also step out of the room.

"She came in with your gun, didn't she?" the captain asks.

"Yeah… Sir, she didn't -"

"I'm not saying anything about it. But Castle sure as hell will."

"Sir, I am not telling him about that," she protests. "He'll kill me."

"Is she going to be alright, Dr. Parish?"

"She'll be fine. I'll get her a glass of water, and then I'll pack for her so she can go to Castle's."

Kate lets out a deep breath and follows the two out of the room.

**A/N: So I still haven't decided whether or not to post the next chapter before I leave tomorrow. Maybe your reviews could inspire me... Oh, I just wanted to let you know that this was like the hardest chapter for me to write. I seriously had to write the next one and then come back to this one. Hopefully the next one will make up for the awfulness of this one.**


	9. An Insightful Chat

**Chapter 9: An Insightful Chat**

Rick stares at Kate while she sleeps. After the events of the day, she had pretty much kept to herself in his guest room. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't want to push her away from him. Slowly he lowers his body until he is sitting on the edge of the bed, thinking about how he could have lost her today because of his own actions yet again.

Kate shifts her head so that her face is towards him, but her eyes are still closed so he assumes she is still asleep. "Castle?" she asks sleepily, opening her eyes slowly. It takes her a moment to adjust to the darkness. "What are you doing?"

"Watching you sleep. And, yes, I know it's creepy."

"What do you need?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you stare at me, you need to know something for Nikki Heat. So what is it?"

"Nothing."

"You're not stuck on some detail of the next book?"

"No. I just… like to watch you. And after what happened to today, I realized that I might not always be able to study you."

"So that's what this is about? Castle, I'm fine. You should be more worried about Alexis," Kate tries to sit up, but he rests a hand on her shoulder to keep her down.

"The sick bastard didn't lay a hand on her, only you. And don't worry: I already watched her sleep for an hour."

"It was still traumatic to her. I mean… she held a gun in her hands and pointed it at a guy who was choking me. You and I have seen a lot, but she hasn't been through anything close to that in her life."

"Should I… take her to see a therapist or something?" he asks, now worried about his daughter's mental health.

"I… give it a few days. She needs to talk to someone, even if it's just you. But going to the department therapist a couple times won't hurt her."

Rick removes his hand from her shoulder, "And how are you holding up?"

"I'm fine, Castle. I just want this to be over. So I'm going to the precinct tomorrow."

"But Montgomery -"

"I don't care what Montgomery said. I need this guy to be behind bars as soon as possible. For your sake and Alexis's and my own. You're both too attached."

"Attached to what?"

"Me."

"Kate, are you…?"

"I don't know, Castle. This thing isn't healthy for either of us or Alexis. If something happens to me, I don't know what the two of you would do. You're just too emotionally attached, and I need to get away from here so that you can move on."

"And you're not attached to us?" he asks, trying to keep the anger from his voice.

"I am, Castle. But I can handle the pain of separating from you better than the two of you could handle my death. So… it's better this way. For everyone."

"But… you just said that you were willing to give us a try, Kate. What happened?"

"You and Alexis will just become more attached, and I really don't want the two of you to give up your own lives if something happens to me."

"Nothing's going to happen to you."

"I'm not Nikki Heat, Castle. You can't control what happens to me."

"I don't want you to be Nikki; I want you to be Kate," he reaches out to touch her cheek, but she backs away. "I'll give you space. I'll give you as much time as you need, Kate. Please…"

"Rick, it can't work."

"Yes, it can," he gently takes her hand in his. "You pretend that you don't care, that what I do doesn't hurt you. But you said it yourself, Kate: you couldn't stand to lose me. There are two meanings to that phrase. The literal, of course, me dying, probably while working on a case with you. And then figurative, where we separate because things don't work. While either is possible, I have a feeling the second worries you more. I will do everything in my power, Detective, to make sure that we don't have to separate because I have no desire to cause you pain."

Kate looks away from him, "Castle…"

"I will have you know, Kate, that we are already too attached to you, that if you leave us, we will both be devastated and unable to move forward in our lives. I'll stop writing, Alexis will become a bum and soon enough we'll be living on the streets."

"When you put it that way…" Kate turns, her eyes meeting his. "I'm not going anywhere, Rick."

"Really? I didn't know I could be so persuasive," he grins and pulls her into a hug. Suddenly he pulls away from her, thinking that he was pushing her too far. "Sorry… I should let you go back to sleep." Slowly he stands, trying not to show his disappointment at having to lose contact with her.

Kate lays back down, pulling the blankets over her. "You know, Castle… you can stay tonight if you want," she pats the bed beside her, and he quickly climbs under the covers. "But don't think you're getting lucky."

"I already am lucky," he smiles, simply lying beside her as he was unsure if he could touch her without making her uncomfortable.

Eventually she scoots closer, curling up against his left side and resting her head on his chest. "I'm not going to shoot you, Castle. At least not right now."

He puts his arm around her, "You know… I really should write the last book for Nikki Heat and save it somewhere in case something does happen to you. That way Alexis can get it published and have money to take care of herself and perhaps her poor father, who has fallen into a deep depression after losing the love of his life and cannot find the energy to do anything useful with himself."

Kate tenses at his words but slowly relaxes into his arms, "Love of your life? Really?"

"Yes."

"And what about Meredith and Gina?"

"Well, I kind of married Meredith just because she got pregnant with Alexis, but please do not mention that to my daughter. And Gina… it seemed right, but she just wanted my money."

"And Kyra?"

"I did love her a lot. But I was young and didn't know what to do when she left. I think I could've been happy with her. But I'm glad that I didn't follow her because that led to my two ex-wives and, eventually, you. You're the most fascinating person I've met. Alexis is a close second, but I'm more fascinated with how she turned out the way she did with me and Meredith as parents."

Kate chuckles. "Well, she hasn't spent a whole lot of time with Meredith. And you're really not as bad an influence as you think, but I will never say that to your face again."

"Actually, she's more like you than anybody, and she's barely known you for two years."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. She's a lot better than I was at her age. And I'm sure I was a lot better than you were."

"Again with that mysterious past that you keep teasing me with but refuse to disclose," Castle sighs.

"Someday, Castle. Someday I'll tell you," Kate rests her cast on his chest opposite her head. "Can I… ask you something?"

"Sure. I would be a hypocrite if I got to ask you things but never let you ask me anything."

"If your books are based on us, why doesn't Rook have a daughter?"

He silently debates how to answer her, "I know my having a daughter can't be easy for you to accept."

Kate quickly cuts him off before he can explain further. "Alexis isn't a problem, Castle. In fact… I like you even more because you're such a great father."

"Hm… most women are kind of afraid to learn that I have a child."

"She's easy to get along with. I'm just amazed that she's as accepting of me in her life and the two of us being together as she is."

"She's always liked you. And you're not exactly old enough to feel like you're trying to be her mother, and you're not too young for it to be awkward for us to be together."

"So where is Rook's Alexis?"

"I… chose to keep her out of it. For her own protection," he simply explains. "But… Rook has been with a lot of women so he might have a child to deal with later on. Or children…"

"Are you trying to hint at something, Castle? Like Alexis has a brother or sister from one of your… conquests?"

"No," he hurriedly says, "I'm sure there aren't any other little Castles. For your information, I have always used protection. Except the night with Meredith when Alexis happened. But it was a mistake. A mistake that I am very grateful for."

She smiles as he tries to explain. "So about this final Nikki Heat book that you were going to write in case something happened…"

"I was actually thinking about Scott Dunn. _Dead Heat_ would be an excellent title."

"You're going to kill another best-selling character of yours?"

"Yeah… Hey, I could publish it soon, and then have you magically come back to life."

"Magically?" she yawns.

"Or you could just hide in the bathtub like in real life. 'Cause I was thinking that an explosion would be a very poetic way for Nikki Heat to die."

"You seriously want to kill me?"

"Sherlock Holmes died and came back to life."

"You're comparing me to Sherlock Holmes? I guess that's better than comparing me to Watson. Holmes figures everything out while Watson watches, and since you like to watch so much…"

"Oh, that stung, Detective," Rick feigns hurt.

"So what would become of Rook without Nikki?"

"You know you're an awfully nosy woman, Kate."

"I'm nosy?" she picks her head up to look at his face.

He ignores her, "Well, if it really was the end, Rook would run into the building in search of Nikki, and upon failing to find her body or finding her lifeless body, he would sit in the burning building until either the flames or the smoke killed him. If it wasn't the end of Nikki, I would probably close it with the explosion and imply that there was no way she could survive; the next novel would begin with Rook running into the burning building and finding her in the bathtub. Or a flashback to that moment."

"Hm… I kind of like that idea. The second one, since it might be considered suicide if I wanted Nikki Heat dead. Maybe you should do that after you finish… whatever this third one is called."

"Well, I should really let you get some rest," he places his right hand on top of the fingers sticking out of her cast.

"Thanks for this… insight, Castle."

"No problem. Until tomorrow, Kate. Or until later today since I believe it is about two in the morning."

"Night, Castle." She soon drifts off to sleep, and Castle presses a kiss to the top of her head when he sees her breathing even out.

**A/N: After all the reviews you guys sent me, I had to post this before I left. So I'm hoping you review this chapter just as much so I have lots of mail when I get on my computer again. I'm thinking I'll update Tuesday or Wednesday as long as I've figured out how to connect to the internet in the dorm. I'm thinking from here on I'll try to post at least once a week but hopefully twice. I don't know how busy I'll be in college, but since the story is not finished yet and I really don't know how to end it, I don't want to be posting daily and then have a big break while I try to finish the story. Anyway, thanks for reading. And if you were a little disappointed in not getting to see Castle's reaction to Alexis's actions, there will be a little more about that in the next chapter.**


	10. The Morning After

**Chapter 10: The Morning After**

Alexis searches the entire apartment for her father the following morning; she wanted to say goodbye to him before going off to school. He wasn't in his office, his bedroom, the kitchen, or the living room. Cautiously she opens the door to the guest room that Kate was staying in.

When she sees the two of them together in the bed, she jumps in surprise. She knew they liked each other, but she didn't think they would've acted on it so soon, especially after the conversation she had had with Kate the other night.

Rick slowly opens his eyes and spots his daughter. He smiles and motions her in. "Time for school already?" he whispers.

She slowly walks closer, not sure that she wanted to, "Yeah. I just wanted to say goodbye." Alexis glances at Detective Beckett, surprised she didn't wake up.

"Can you bring me a sharpie from my office?" he asks.

"Sure…" A few moments later she returns with the marker. He pulls back the covers, and his daughter turns away. "Dad."

"It's okay. We're both clothed."

"Don't do anything stupid," she leans down to kiss his cheek while he opens the marker.

"I won't. Have a good day," he shifts the detective's arm on his chest so that he can write on her cast. He writes her a short message before signing his name, continuously glancing at her face to make sure she wasn't awake. Surprised that she hadn't woken up, he caps the pen and places it on the night stand.

"What are you doing, Castle?" Kate asks, keeping her eyes shut.

"Go back to sleep."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It can wait until later."

She complies, still exhausted from the previous day and their night of talking. Two hours later she opens her eyes. The first thing she notices is that Castle is gone. The second is the black writing that contrasts with the whiteness of her cast. She frowns, as she always does, at his disobedience before holding her arm out so that she could read his message. It reads 'Thanks for being extraordinary. Rick Castle.'

"Good morning, Detective," Castle says when she walks into the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Coffee."

"You have to have more than coffee."

"And you have to learn how to obey directions."

He smiles, "Did you like my message?"

"I told you not to write on my cast."

"And I thought it looked boring. So now it's not as boring."

"Caste… you are such a pain."

"I try," he hands her a cup of coffee. "So what will it be?"

"I'll just get myself a bowl of cereal," she heads to the pantry to pick while he gets her a bowl and spoon. "Don't you have anything without sugar?" she calls.

"I think there's a box of Cheerios way back in the corner. But they might be stale since Mother was the only one that ate them."

"They expired six months ago," she hands him the box, which he puts in the garbage. Then she pours herself a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

"Hey, that's my cereal."

"And that was my bed that you slept in last night," she smirks.

"You told me I was welcome."

"At least you make a good pillow," she goes to the fridge to get the milk.

"More like teddy bear the way you held onto me all night. You know… I think the guys would like to hear about that."

"Not a word, Castle, or I will shoot you."

He grins, "Sadly that threat won't work on me anymore. Alexis told me that you told her that you wouldn't shoot me for her sake."

"And what else did she tell you?"

"Nothing. Said she was sworn to secrecy."

"At least someone in this family knows when to keep her mouth shut."

"Hey, I won't say anything to the boys. Or Lanie but she always seems to have a way of knowing…" Castle watches her take a sip of coffee. "So you're really going into work today even though Montgomery said that you're not supposed to?"

"Yes. The sooner he's behind bars, the better. They haven't called, so the picture must not have helped at all. Which means we have to lure him in."

"Wait, you can't do that," he tries to protest.

"It'll probably be a few days since we'll have to wait for them to repair the window. I'll be armed and on the lookout for him. We'll have plenty of backup to come in once he's there. Ryan and Esposito may even be able to hide somewhere in my apartment. It'll be safe."

"Kate, I think we need to talk."

The detective slowly sets her spoon down, "Castle, you can't come. It's too dangerous, and you might scare him off. You will wait here with your daughter, and I will call when he's in custody."

"That's not what we need to talk about."

"About my lack of good judgment yesterday? About how I put your daughter in harm's way and destroyed her innocence by giving her the opportunity to hold my weapon in her hands? Because I'm sorry, Castle. What happened yesterday was entirely my fault. I should have known he would follow us, and I should have taken my gun into my bedroom with me to defend myself so that she wouldn't have to try to do so."

"What happened was not your fault. And I'm sure I destroyed Alexis's innocence long before you did. But that's not it either, Kate."

"What then?"

"About last night."

"I'm not going anywhere, Castle. I'm not going to leave you and Alexis. Well, not forever. I do, however, have to go back to my place when all this is over."

"You can stay here. I mean… you can't possibly be able to live by yourself with a broken arm."

Beckett shakes her head, "Don't push it, Castle."

"Alright. You can go home when the guy is in custody. But… what happened last night isn't going to… hurt our relationship, is it?"

"Sleeping together?" He smiles, and she rolls her eyes. "Sleeping in the same bed isn't going to hurt our relationship."

"It's not going to make you rethink your decision or cause you to need more time?"

"No."

"Does that mean we can do that more often then?"

She studies him for a moment, thinking that he is after more, but she can see the honesty in his eyes. "I wouldn't have pegged you as one for cuddling, Castle," she teases lightly.

"It must be you, Detective. You seemed awfully cozy last night. Although I definitely did not imagine you as a cuddler either… Have to put that in the new Nikki Heat," he teases back. "Honestly, Kate, I really did enjoy just laying there and talking with you."

"Me too," she gives him a small smile. "And as long as you behave and do not push, I think I could manage to give you a few more nights like that. At least before I can give you anything better."

"I guess I could settle for that… on one condition. You have to start talking too. It can't be take advantage of Castle time where you can ask whatever you want. Though I would definitely love you to take advantage of me," he grins.

She rolls her eyes again before turning serious. "Then you have to promise that everything I tell you will not end up in a Nikki Heat story."

"Okay. I'll ask before I include any personal information that I get from you."

Kate gets up to put her bowl in the sink. "Alright. We should probably head to the precinct then and see what we can do. Maybe with our help, the boys will be able to solve the case."

**CB**

"Detective Beckett, what are you doing here?" Captain Montgomery says from the doorway of his office.

"Castle and I wanted to help."

"There is nothing here for you to do."

"Yes, there is a crazy stalker for us to catch."

"Detective…"

"Please, sir."

"Castle, you are welcome to go help the boys out. Kate… I'll meet you at the shooting range in half an hour after my meeting; keep yourself busy in the mean time, but not with the case. If you can still shoot with a cast, we'll start to plan how we will bait him." The captain turns away.

She turns to look at her partner. "You go help the boys. Maybe you'll notice some connection or… something."

"I don't think I'm supposed to leave you alone," he says slowly.

"We're in a police station, Castle. Besides, I'm going to go see Lanie."

"Okay. Tell her I said hi. And if you want to talk to her, she's welcome in my apartment."

"Thanks, Castle," she watches him walk over to their murder board before getting back on the elevator.

"Hey, girl," Lanie says when Kate walks into the morgue. "You need something? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be here."

"I came anyway. And the captain said I've got to pass a shooting test before they'll let me bait this guy, and he's in a meeting now so…"

"So what's going on with you and Castle?" the ME smiles at her friend.

**A/N: Updating kind of slipped my mind until now. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter too. More to come soon.**


	11. Rook?

**Chapter 11: Rook?**

"Nothing."

"Girl, I'm your best friend. Start talking."

"And when were you going to tell me you were dating Esposito?" Kate counters.

"How did you know?"

"Since when do you come to crime scenes where there is no dead body?"

"Yesterday? I was up there talking to Karpowski about her case when the call came in. The boys know we're close so they asked me if I wanted to go."

Beckett raises an eyebrow, "I get the feeling you're lying."

"Fine, I was up there to see Javier when they were called. I was worried about you so he let me come."

"How long?"

"Four months. Now enough about me. I want details."

"There aren't any details. Nothing has happened."

Lanie sighs as she covers the body back up with a sheet, finished with it. "Girl, don't give me that. I can read all over your face that it isn't true. Yes, I may not be a detective, but I still know when you're lying to me."

"He pretty much outright told me how he feels. So I told him that I needed time, but… we would give it a try."

"And?"

"And he's patiently waiting."

"Patiently? You're really using that word to describe Castle?"

"He's not pushing me. He still uses all those innuendoes but… he seems willing to wait."

"For how long? Girl, get a move on it already. Everyone knows he cares about you, and you care about him. So sleep with him already and see how it goes."

"I can't do that, Lanie. Especially with him. I want this one to last," the detective looks away from her friend. "Besides, we already slept together."

"What?" Lanie says loudly.

"It's not what you think. We slept in the same bed. And talked."

"And he didn't try anything?"

"No."

"He didn't touch you at all?"

"I used him as a pillow. He had his arm around me."

The ME smiles, "You have it bad for him."

"I know."

"He's good for you." Kate doesn't respond. "Alright, I'll let you take it slowly. But not too slowly; we can't have him getting away. And I want details the second anything happens. Well, maybe not the second; that might stop things from progressing. Within a day of anything happening will work."

"And I do not want details on Esposito."

"Sure? They're juicy?"

"I'm good."

"Do I need to threaten Castle?"

"No… not yet. And do I have to have a talk with Esposito?"

"Only if you do it in an interrogation room and let me watch him get all nervous."

"I'll make you a deal: you tell no one about me and Castle, and I won't tell about you and Esposito. I can't have anyone knowing about this, not until we want them to."

"I don't like it, but for you… I won't tell."

**CB**

Beckett meets back up with Castle after she passes her shooting test. "Find anything?" she leans against her desk next to him and stares at the murder board. Or stalker board, in this case.

"It was a love letter," he says quietly.

"What?"

"The letter he wrote you. It was a love letter."

"Yes. A disturbing love letter. You read it?" she looks at him, and he nods. "Sorry. I thought it would upset you."

"How can you not be the least bit frightened by this? He described in great detail what he wants to do to you, and you act like it's no big deal."

"He'll never get the opportunity to do those things, Castle."

"But you're going to give him the opportunity. You're going to allow yourself to be cornered in your apartment by this guy and hope that you catch him," he refuses to look at her, knowing she'll see the pain and fear in his eyes.

"Rick," Kate steps in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "I know you don't like this. But it may be our only opportunity to catch him. And those three guys over there aren't going to let anything happen to me. I trust them and so should you."

"I just wish there was something I could do."

"Stay positive. And keep your daughter company when this goes down."

"I'll try," he gives her a weak smile.

"You guys coming?" Ryan asks from the entrance of the conference room. He and his partner are watching the two.

"Hold on a minute," Castle calls to them before turning back to her. "I think I might have something."

She watches as he approaches the murder board and points to the letter. "He addresses it to Nikki Heat."

"So?"

"Did you look at the name of the sender?"

"There was no name. Just JR. Jameson Rook. He thinks he's Rook. So he writes his girlfriend a love letter."

"His name cannot be Jameson Rook, or he would have just signed it with that. But what if his name is like Jameson Rook. At the very least I suspect his initials are JR."

"That's kind of a long shot, Castle."

"Think about it: why else would he use JR. He can't use his real name. He thinks I wrote the books about him because of the similarity in the names. He comes after you, the real life Nikki Heat."

"Why wouldn't he go after someone whose name is similar to Nikki Heat?"

"Because… it's too much work. And you are Nikki Heat. Why would he want someone else when he could have you? You know… he kind of fits the description of Rook from the book, at least physically. And since I basically described you for Nikki…"

"Have you told the guys?" Kate asks.

"Not yet."

"Hey, Ryan. We need you to look up something for us," she calls.

Both detectives come out of the conference room and sit at their desks. "What do you need?" Esposito asks.

"We think this guy's name is similar to Jameson Rook. He fits the physical description of Rook from the books. He read the books, realized the similarity, and decided that Nikki Heat was his. That's why he wants Detective Beckett," Castle explains his theory.

"Search for all men in New York City with brown hair, blue eyes, average build with the initials of JR," Beckett instructs.

"What makes you think he's from New York? Maybe he came here in search of Nikki," Ryan suggests.

"Possible, but not likely. Rook was from New York."

"Should we narrow the field to journalists too then?" Esposito asks sarcastically.

"He doesn't have to be a journalist, but start with the writers first just in case he is."

"I've got sixty-two male JRs in the city that fit Castle's description. Only four are known to have occupations associated with writing."

"Compare the photos from their driver's licenses to the one I took," she instructs, looking over Ryan's shoulder at the computer screen.

The detective does so, but none of the four photos match. "It was worth a shot."

"Oh, don't worry. You've got fifty-eight more suspects. Castle will help you. Esposito, you and I will meet with the captain to plan."

"Beckett," he whines, not happy that she was cutting him out of the meeting.

"You're of better use out here, Castle," she tells him, deciding that the less he knew about what would happen when they tried to bait him the better off he would be.

**CB**

"Please?" he begs.

"No."

"Do I have to ask Esposito and Ryan to fill me in? 'Cause they are very easy to bribe."

"You don't need to know."

"Kate…" he says, knowing how hard she found it to resist when he used her first name.

"The guys will be hidden inside my apartment. There will other officers across the hall in the empty apartment. I'll have a camera and microphone on so they will know everything that is going on; the moment Esposito gives the signal they'll be in there."

He nods, "Thanks. I feel a little better now. But Wednesday… you're supposed to go to dinner with us for Alexis's birthday."

"I'll go straight from the restaurant to my apartment."

"You're going to miss laser tag."

The detective smiles, "And you can't break tradition."

"I'm sure she'd understand. I could just wait in the room with the other guys."

She shakes her head, "It's her last birthday at home, Castle. Don't miss it for my sake."

He looks out the window, hating that she was right. "So what'd Lanie say?"

"Nothing."

"She knew?"

"Yes."

"What'd you tell her?"

"Not to tell anyone."

"Do you know who she's dating?"

"Yes."

"Esposito."

"How'd you know?" she frowns.

"The boys and I play videogames together. It's our bonding time."

She nods, still frowning. "That's nice. I don't want to be the subject of your next videogame date."

"Oh, we talk about you all the time."

"You do?"

"They vent, complain about how you're such a bad boss. How demanding you are, how they have no lives…"

"You guys don't have lives if you play videogames like teenagers," she shakes her head at them.

"Yes, but we don't have to sneak the beers."

Kate glares, "Just don't tell them that we're together at your next videogame party."

"We're together?"

"Yeah… which means we need to talk to your daughter."

**A/N: Thought I'd update. I'm extremely bored. Everyone went home after chemistry review and my parents are making me stay for two days until marching band starts. So... please review. I'll try to update again Sunday.**


	12. Nikki and Rook Explained

**Chapter 12: Nikki and Rook Explained**

"You're okay with this?"

"Yeah. You two are great together. I couldn't ask for a better person to be my mom and to care for my dad," Alexis smiles. "You guys don't have to tell me every time you change your relationship status. I mean… not unless you're getting married or something."

"Kate doesn't want everyone to know that we're together though."

"I'll keep my mouth shut. And if you want to keep it a secret, I suggest you don't tell Gram yet."

"We weren't planning on it. But when we go out for your birthday, we have to act like she's not part of our family," Rick explains.

"I can handle that."

"Just so that it doesn't leak to the press."

"Dad, I'll be fine. Are you sure you'll be able to handle it?"

"Of course I will."

Kate, who had remained silent, looks down at her hands, kind of embarrassed to be talking to a teenager whose father she was dating.

"Detective Beckett… can I talk to you?" Alexis asks quietly.

She looks up, somewhat confused, "… Sure."

"In private?"

"Yeah," she stands, ready to follow the teenager.

Rick pulls his daughter close, whispering something in her ear. Alexis frowns at his comment. "I'll go start dinner," he offers, and the women head up to Alexis's room.

"You, uh… have that conversation with your dad a lot?"

"About his girlfriends? No. He normally doesn't bring them around unless I'm gone. And even if we did, I wouldn't tell him how I felt about them. At least not until he started thinking about marriage."

Kate frowns, "You wouldn't really tell him how you felt? Does that mean you just lied to him downstairs?"

"I didn't lie. Not this time. I really do like you, Kate. You two are made for each other; I can see that, and I know that I can't change it. But that's okay. I don't want to change anything."

"You're sure you're completely okay with this?" the detective asks again.

"Yes. I just have one favor. Since I have less than a year left with him before I go away, I still want to spend time with him. I know I'm not going to lose him, or at least I hope not, but still… we've seen each other every day for the past eighteen years. So… I know you and Dad are going to want alone time, and I'm willing to give you some alone time. But I want to spend time with him too. And I'm willing… to include you in our activities; I'm going to miss you too when I go away."

"Alexis… I…" Kate closes her eyes. "I understand how you feel. My mom and I were close before I went away, and then… I really did lose her."

Alexis approaches the detective and cautiously wraps her arms around her in a hug. "You'll do your best to protect him when he shadows you, right?" she whispers.

"Yes," Kate puts her arms around the teenager.

"Thanks," she says quietly. "You know… this isn't exactly what I wanted to talk about."

Kate smiles, "And what was it that you wanted to discuss?"

Alexis steps back, giving her space. "You, uh… You're not mad at me, are you? For what I did yesterday?"

"At you, no. I would've thought your father would teach you to stay away from guns, but… maybe you take after him more than I thought. I, actually, should probably thank you for coming in there. You saved my life."

"No problem. I don't really know why I grabbed your gun before I went in there; I had no clue how to shoot it, but I thought the sight of it might scare him away."

"It scared him enough to release me so I wouldn't suffocate. And he had no choice but to run if he didn't want to be caught."

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if maybe when your arm was better you could teach me some self-defense? In case I ever need it?" Alexis looks away, blushing.

"Sure."

"And maybe you could teach Dad some stuff too since he's always getting into trouble?"

"Well, we can surely try with him, but he probably won't remember anything we teach him we he needs it; he gets kind of panicky in those types of situations," she smiles, and Alexis smiles back. "Tell you what: when this guy is behind bars, I'll get the boys to help me out, and we'll show you and maybe your dad some things."

**CB**

"Hey," Rick pokes his head into the guest room.

Kate sets _Crime and Punishment _down and looks at the clock. "Writing again?"

"Just finished chapter ten."

"Hm… I must be very inspiring."

"Yes, I haven't written that much in such a short amount of time since I met you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, _Naked Heat_ just took forever. I like how it eventually turned out, but it was such a pain to write." He approaches the bed, hoping she'll let him in.

"Don't you think you've been up late enough, Castle?" she smirks, knowing exactly what he wants.

"But I like talking to you."

"What are you going to do when I go back home?"

"I'll break in every night so that we can be together."

"Not a good idea."

"Why not?"

"First, my super is going to kick me out if he keeps having to repair things because of all the break ins. Second, your daughter."

He frowns, "I'll just have to go back to fantasizing."

Kate finally scoots over, "So who gets to go first?"

"Me. Did Alexis really ask you to give us self-defense lessons?" he slides in next to her and waits for her to curl up next to him.

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

Castle hesitates, "I guess I'd rather her know what to do if the situation arises."

"And she's worried about you."

"About me? Why?"

"Because you follow me all the time, and my job is dangerous. And you'll probably be around the precinct more without her at home."

"You're there… to protect me."

"I may not be able to save your butt every time, Castle," she rests her head on his shoulder. "And… she's been spending more time with someone who lost a parent when she went off to college."

"Kate…"

"It's okay, Castle."

They sit in a comfortable silence until Castle decides to break it. "It's kind of funny, don't you think?"

"What's funny?"

"That the man who murdered your mother has the same name as the man you're dating. Last names both start with a C too. You had to shoot one Richard C to save another."

"Yes, well I'm more interested in the guy that ordered the hit on her."

"So… what would your mom think of the Nikki Heat books?"

"I honestly don't know. She's actually the one that introduced me to your books. It was right before she passed away. But I don't know what she'd think about Nikki…"

"I'm sure she'd like her. She has to be proud of you."

"You know… if she hadn't died, we probably never would have met. Or Nikki would be a lawyer."

"You were going to follow in her footsteps?"

Kate nods. "When she died, I wanted to be more involved in catching the criminals since the cops were unable to give closure to my father and me."

"Hm… couldn't have used the name Nikki Heat for a prosecutor," he muses.

Silence envelopes them once more, but this time Beckett breaks it. "My dad called me about a week after _Heat Wave_ came out. He, uh… wanted to know if I was dating Richard Castle."

He laughs, "Probably not the conversation you wanted to have with your father."

"No. He liked the book though – well, as much as a father could like a book in which the main character, who happens to be based on his daughter, is involved in a rather heated sex scene."

"I guess I wouldn't be too happy if some guy wrote a sex scene inspired by Alexis, especially if he wasn't her husband," Castle puts his arm around her. "So what would you like to know, Detective?"

Kate hesitates, "Your name isn't really Richard Castle, is it?"

"It's my legal name, but it wasn't the name I was born with." She patiently waits for him to expand on this. "I was Rogers like her, Richard James Rogers."

"Why Castle?"

"More memorable and implies power."

"Okay. So I get Jameson Rook; Jameson, a tribute to your middle name, and Rook, another name for Castle."

"I changed my middle. Edgar."

"Is he your favorite poet?"

"I always thought of him as one of the first great mystery writers."

She nods, lifting her head up to look at him. "Where did Nikki Heat come from?"

"Since you go by Kate instead of Katherine, I decided I wanted my character to go by a shortened version of her name too. Nicole, Nikki for short, means victory to the people, which I though fit since you provide justice to the people."

"And Heat?"

"Well, she's supposed to be pretty hot. And I thought of all the tension, or heat, between her and Rook. Then I thought about titles; think of all the possibilities with Heat. Plus Nikki Heat did kind of sound like a hooker name," he smiles at her.

She rolls her eyes and puts her head back down on his chest.

**A/N: Sunday finally came. I almost forgot to update before I got busy with band. Now that there are people here I'm not so bored. But I am kind of nervous about band. And I seriously don't know why in the world they would want to march with twenty piccolos. It's terrible. Plus a lot of the notes are written lower because it's all piccolo so you probably won't be able to hear it anyway. And I have to sing... not too excite about that. Well, please review. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More to come Wednesday maybe.**


	13. Presents

**Chapter 13: Presents**

Kate sits on Castle's couch, her phone pressed to her, "Dad, he can be really annoying sometimes, but he's a great guy."

"So you like him?" her father asks.

"…Yeah."

"Are you dating?"

"Not exactly."

"Katie -"

"We haven't done that, Dad. Don't go there," she warns. Montgomery hadn't wanted her to go to work so that she was rested for the evening; Beckett had decided to call her father. "We've talked… and eventually we will date. But right we're not there yet. I'm not ready for all the publicity that will come with dating."

Jim Beckett sighs, "Do I get to meet him?"

"Eventually, Dad. We, um… we're in the middle of a bad case right now. Maybe when this is cleared up."

"Serial killer?"

"No. He's… a stalker."

"And he murders his… obsessions?"

"No."

"Aren't you homicide? Why are you on a stalking case?"

Kate closes her eyes, knowing she needed to tell him the truth. "He's after me. Well, he's after Nikki Heat, and I'm the real life version of her so…"

"Has he hurt you?"

"Dad, I'm fine now."

"What happened?" he demands, hating to see his little girl hurt.

"He broke into my apartment Friday night. He shoved me, and I hit my head on the table, knocked unconscious. Broke my wrist."

"He didn't…"

"No… but that's what he wants. We're, uh… going to catch him tonight. It's all set up."

"Call me tomorrow morning. Let me know that you're okay."

"I will."

"I love you, Katie."

"Love you too, Dad." The detective hangs up as Alexis opens the door, two packages in hand. "Birthday presents?"

"One's from Mom. This one is for you. Or rather Nikki Heat," she holds out the smaller of the two boxes.

Kate slowly takes it, looking at it cautiously. The handwriting of the address is the same as on the letter she had received the other day; this time, however, the sender had neglected to include her real name on the package.

"Should I call the other detectives?"

"No. I'll call them when I open it."

"Where's Dad?"

"He had to make some phone calls." She lifts the tape sealing the box and opens the cardboard flaps. A note, written in the same hand, lies on top of a piece of fabric. It is another love letter addressed to Nikki and signed JR. Her eyes widen when she reads the PS at the bottom: 'please wear this tonight.' "He knows," she whispers. "He knows we're going to see each other tonight."

"Are you still going to go through with it?"

"He's going to show up… and we're going to arrest him." Carefully setting the note aside, she turns back to the contents of the box, slowly pulling the deep red fabric – almost identical to the color of blood – from it. Upon holding it up, she realizes it is a dress.

"Whoa," Castle freezes in the doorway. "That leaves very little to the imagination. Would you mind modeling it for me?"

"Dad, it's from the guy that's after her," Alexis says quietly.

"Oh…" he notices the letter on the couch beside her and picks it up. After he is finished reading it, he sits down beside her. "Does this change anything?"

"No. It has to be done."

"It's not going to be done in that dress," he states, ashamed himself of wanting to see her in such a thing.

She puts the dress back in the box before sighing. "I don't like it either, Castle, but I have to talk to the guys, to Montgomery. It might be best… it might distract him enough so that no one gets hurt when we take him down."

When she wanders off with her phone to call the station, he turns to his daughter. "You have a good day?"

"Yeah. How was your day?"

"Fine. Gina wanted to talk to me about adding more book signings. That package for you?"

"From Mom. She actually sent it on time this year," the teenager starts to open the box.

When she is done unloading the box, he frowns. "I think your mother spoils you."

She smiles, "And you don't?"

"Just a little."

Kate walks back into the room, sliding her phone into the pocket of her jeans. "How fancy is this restaurant we're going to?"

"Why? Did they tell you to wear the dress? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that they might not serve us with such a little amount of fabric covering you," Rick says.

"No, I'm not wearing the dress. Montgomery told me to… dress like Nikki Heat," she looks down at her feet. "And he said that if I didn't know what that meant, I should ask you."

"What Nikki Heat would wear to work or what Nikki Heat would wear for Rook?"

"There's a difference?"

"Yeah. She pretty dresses the same as you do for work but shows a little more…" he gestures to her chest. "And for Rook, she would most definitely wear that dress. But this Rook isn't the Rook from the story."

"How about I help her out, Dad?" Alexis offers.

"That'd probably be easier since I doubt she'll let me go through her clothes," he smiles.

"Lanie packed a wide variety of stuff so something has to work."

The two head to the guest room, where Alexis picks out a navy blue dress that came to just above her knees. It had one strap that covered her left shoulder but left the right one bare. It fit her snugly, showing off her curves, but left far more to the imagination than the one JR had sent her.

While Beckett gets ready, Alexis goes up to her room to get ready herself. When she is done, she heads upstairs, a little box in hand, to give Alexis her present. "I… wanted to give this to you before we went out," she holds the box out. "So happy birthday."

Alexis opens the box and pulls out a necklace with a gold heart pendant with a diamond in the center. "Kate… thank you so much. You didn't have to get me anything," she pulls the detective into a one-armed hug.

"It's no problem. My parents gave me a similar necklace on my eighteenth birthday, and I thought you would appreciate this."

"Are you two almost ready?" Castle asks from the doorway.

"Dad, can you…?" she holds the necklace out, and he helps her put it on.

**CB**

Castle and his daughter sit down on the couch, not bothering to take their laser tag vests off. Neither one of them were enjoying the game because both were too worried about Beckett.

"What time did she leave?" Alexis asks.

"Around seven-thirty. So she probably got home around eight. And it's…" he checks his watch before putting his arm around her, pulling her close, "after ten now."

"I should go to bed," she mumbles but makes no effort to move.

"You can wait up; after all you're eighteen."

"I know. But I don't want to fall asleep during my government test tomorrow morning."

"Then you don't have to stay up. I'm sure Detective Beckett is fine. They probably arrested him an hour ago, and she's probably at the precinct talking to him," he assures her.

She rests her head on his shoulder, "Dad… I don't want anything to happen to her."

"I don't either. But she can't give up what she does. And this isn't even because of what she does."

"She doesn't blame you for this, Dad."

There is a soft knock on their door, and both father and daughter practically sprint to see who is there. Kate is standing there, her arms wrapped protectively around herself. Castle waits for her to enter before locking the door behind her. When he turns around, Alexis has her arms around the detective.

"Did you get him?" she asks.

Kate releases the teenager before confirming it. "We got him."

"What happened?" Castle asks quietly.

She shakes her head, "Everything went wrong. He… cut off the power in the apartment across the hall so that they had no idea what was going on. The boys' earpieces didn't work because of the lack of power, and they called Esposito, but his phone wasn't silenced. He was in there by that time, and he trapped him in my closet by moving my dresser in front of it. I heard Esposito's phone ring so I headed to my bedroom. He grabbed me from behind and took my gun. Then we heard Ryan's phone ringing; he opened the closet door, threatened to shoot me if Ryan didn't drop his gun. So he gave up his weapon. The guy… handcuffed him to one of the pipes that's in that closet."

Alexis yawns, "I have to go to bed. See you guys tomorrow."

Both remove their vests and lay them on the couch. Rick waits until he hears her door close before leading her to the living room, not bothering to offer to take her coat since she was still clutching it to her. "You okay?" he whispers.

She hesitates before shaking her head again. "…Rick."

**A/N: I am so sorry for not updating sooner. It kind of slipped my mind with band eight hours a day. I've been so busy, and I just want to sleep. But I don't have time to do that. Anyway, please review. Thanks for reading. I'll try to post again Sunday if I'm not too busy.**


	14. Broken Beckett

**Chapter 14: Broken Beckett**

"He was angry with me because I didn't wear his dress. He pinned me against the wall and held my wrists above my head. He said… said I was going to pay for not wearing his present. And then he forced his lips on mine and he touched me… everywhere with his free hand," Kate slowly lets her arms fall to her sides and her jacket opens. "Then he ripped my dress open."

Rick lets his gaze fall from her eyes to see the damage; the pale white skin of her stomach is exposed where before it had been covered by the dark blue fabric. Then he notices that she is stained with red; it takes him a moment to realize it is blood, that someone had been hurt. Feelings like he was invading her privacy, he quickly looks back up to her face. As much as he wanted to see her, he couldn't bear to under such circumstances. "Kate…"

"Esposito somehow managed to push my dresser out of the way so that he could get out of the closet. He didn't notice Esposito at first so he was surprised when someone told him to back away from me. He didn't let me go but he had turned his head to look at Esposito. He had put my gun in the back of his pants, and while he was thinking about what he could do, I… took the opportunity to free my arm and grabbed my gun from him." She pauses refusing to look anywhere near Castle. "I… I shot him. He was going to hit me, and I shot him… in the stomach. He was less than a foot from me."

"It's okay, Kate. It's all over," Castle opens his arms to her, and she graciously accepts, burying her face in his neck as she tried to hide her tears from him. They stay like that for fifteen minutes before he decides that they need to move. "We should get you cleaned up."

He leads her down the hallway to his bedroom and into his bathroom. He studies her for a moment before deciding that she was too exhausted and unmotivated to bathe herself. Silently he starts the water and slowly pulls both her jacket and her ruined dress from her shoulders. Then he wraps her cast up for her, trying not to stare at the red blood spatter on it that would force her to remember what happened for the next eight weeks. He gently helps her into the shower, leaving her strapless bra and panties on to give her some privacy, before hurriedly removing his own clothes, save for his boxers.

Rick gently rubs his soapy washcloth over her body, trying not only to clean the blood from her but the pain – pain that was unnecessary and his fault. Even given her current state of being, he is surprised that she allows him to do this. Soon she is as clean as she can physically be. He steps out of the shower and dries himself off before going to change into sweats and a t-shirt. Then he goes to her room to grab a clean pair of pajamas for her as well as a hair tie; he had noticed that she always put her hair up when she slept.

As he quickly searches through her suitcase for what he needs, he is surprised by himself; normally he would have been nosy, wanting to know what she wore, but now he finds that he could care less. All that mattered to him was that she was safe and had somehow come to trust him to take care of her.

Castle grabs a clean towel from under the sink and sets her clothes along with her bag of toiletries on the counter. Then he shuts the shower off and helps her out before wrapping the towel around her. "I'll leave you to change," he says quietly, closing the bathroom door behind him.

Ten minutes later Kate comes out of the bathroom. He leads her toward his bed, but she freezes. "I'm not going to get much sleep tonight, Castle. I'll go to my own room so you can get some rest."

"No," he whispers. "I want you here with me. And I don't care if we stay up all night."

"Castle…"

The fact that she did not joke about staying up all night scares him; normally she would jump at the opportunity to tease him. "I'm not going to hurt you, Kate."

Finally she concedes and slides under the covers. He goes around the bed to get in on the other side. Not wanting to scare her, he decides it best not to touch her unless she initiates the contact. After a few minutes Kate slides closer to him, resting her head on his chest like had she done the past three nights. Tonight, however, she is pressed against his right side, her good hand resting on his chest. Rick puts his arm around her, absentmindedly rubbing her back to soothe her.

"Rick…" Kate slowly trails her hand down his chest to his stomach. "I need you."

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, Kate," he gently places a kiss on her forehead.

She tilts her head up just as her hand reaches the waistband of his sweats. Her fingers are sliding into his pants and her lips are on his before he realizes what she is after. "Kate!" he quickly turns his head to the side, their lips meeting for only a millisecond, and grabs her wrist with his free hand.

"I want you, Rick," she whispers. "Please."

"No. You had a terrible day, Kate; you're going through a lot right now. I'm not going to take advantage of you like this."

She tries to shift her body, "It's not taking advantage if I want it."

"No, you don't, Kate. If we do this now, it will ruin our relationship. I can't let that happen. You're not ready for this yet, and I don't want it until you are." Castle carefully backs away from her so that the only place they are touching is where he is holding her wrists to keep her from doing anything she would regret in the morning.

Kate looks into his blue eyes, pleading with him. "Please, Rick. I need this. I need to know that someone cares. Someone who isn't crazy."

"I do care about you, Kate. That's why I won't let you do this." Rick breaks eye contact with her, knowing that if he continued to look into her eyes, he would not be able to deny her what she wanted. "You will be incredibly mad at me tomorrow morning if I let you do this. I do not want to be on your bad side, Kate."

She tugs, and he released her wrists. She scoots back to her part of the bed, turning to lie on her side facing away from him so he could not see the tears fall.

Castle stays on his side of the bed, not quite sure what he should do. He could see her body trembling as the tears fell, but he didn't know how to comfort her. Hugs were the only way he knew how to comfort people, and with Kate, it wouldn't work, especially after their night. After fifteen minutes, she stops shaking, and he assumes she has fallen asleep. He closes his eyes to get some sleep himself, knowing that the nightmares would be inevitable tonight for both of them.

Kate rolls over, and he slowly opens his eyes. "He… before he bled out, he said… that Rook would be better off without Nikki Heat in his life because… she was too much of a… bitch for him," she whispers.

"Well… Kate Beckett is not Nikki Heat. And she can be bitchy as times, but it's always for a good reason… like trying to catching a murderer. And I personally think that Rook's life is ten times better with Nikki in it, and I'm sure he'd agree," Castle gives her a reassuring smile.

"And Nikki's life is a lot more complicated and frustrating because of Rook… but it's worth it," she cautiously scoots closer to him again, curling up at his side. "I know that I don't express how much your partnership and friendship mean to me very often, Castle. So I just want to let you know… You're a great man, Rick."

Slowly she leans up to kiss him on the cheek, but he panics, thinking that she was trying to make a move on him again. "Kate, you can't seriously be trying that again," he sighs, grabbing her hand.

She frowns, "I was just going to kiss your cheek. As a thank you. But now you've totally ruined the moment."

"Oh… sorry. Maybe you could start again… from Nikki being grateful for Rook."

"It was a one time deal, Castle. You ruined it," she rests her head on his chest.

"Maybe some other time you could…?" Rick asks hopefully.

"Nope." Kate smiles before closing her eyes in hopes of forgetting the horrific events of the day.

**A/N: I'm hoping to update again on Wednesday. I only have three classes that day so hopefully I will have time. Thanks for all the reviews last chapter. Hope you guys enjoy this one as well.**


	15. Reassurances

**Chapter 15: Reassurances**

Kate yawns as she walks into the kitchen. As she sits down beside him on a bar stool, she says, "You know… I wake up every morning and you're not there and I think that you're running away from me. Then I realize that I'm the one that runs away from relationships."

He smiles, "Sorry to disappoint you, Kate. Maybe this will make up for it." Castle hands her a cup of coffee and a paper bag with doughnuts inside.

She takes a jelly-filled doughnut out of the bag for herself and a chocolate one for him. "Rick… thank you for what you did last night. I know it must have been hard for you to refuse."

"It was hard because I don't like to deny you anything that you want. Or think you want."

"There aren't a whole lot of men that would have done what you did, Castle. I wouldn't have thought you would be one to say no, but I'm glad you proved me wrong."

"You always underestimate me, Kate. I'm wounded," he jokingly puts a hand to his chest. "Seriously, though, I couldn't let you do that to yourself; it would just cause you more pain."

"I appreciate your concern for my well being."

"So how are you feeling this morning?"

"Okay," she sighs. "You alright?"

"Better now that I know you're a little more like yourself today."

"And Alexis?"

"Still worried about you. But she'll be okay."

She looks over at his laptop screen, which he had pushed aside when she came in, and notices that he had been writing. "You're not putting this in your book, are you?"

"No. Besides, Rook is a journalist; he didn't create an alter ego for Nikki that fans can become obsessed with. However, the case Nikki and Rook are working on right now is hitting them kind of hard, and I kind of wanted to include something like last night."

"You've never asked my permission before when you wrote a sex scene."

"How do you know they're going to end up sleeping together?"

"Because Rook would be a jerk if he didn't give in to her when they've already been together. Multiple times."

"So you're saying you would have been mad at me had done what I did last night if we had slept together before?" he asks, frowning.

"Yes."

"Good. I probably would have given in to you if it wouldn't have been our first time."

She remains silent, finishing up her doughnut. He hands her the bag again, which still contained a few doughnuts. "No thanks," she shakes her head, staring in the direction of his elbow. "Castle?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you have my phone?"

He slowly slides it across the counter to her, "Um… your father called you this morning. I kind of thought that I should answer it. To let him know that you were okay. Especially given what was in the papers." He mumbles the last part, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"What was that about papers?"

With a sigh, he decides it best not to hide the truth from her. "The press knows about what happened to you."

She holds out her hand, "Let me see it, Castle."

He reaches across the counter for the paper and silently hands it to her, hoping she would take pity on him and not make him suffer when she killed him.

Kate reads the whole article before slowly setting the paper down in front of her. "What did you tell him?" she asks quietly.

"About what happened last night? I didn't tell him much. He mainly wanted to know that the guy was caught and that you weren't hurt. I told him I'd have you call him back later."

"Seriously, Castle, I know him and I know you. You guys talked about more than that," she gives him a look.

"He didn't tell me anything about you that I didn't already know. He… told me to be careful with his… little girl because he thinks that you really like me. And he warned me not to let any other crazy Nikki Heat fans hurt you."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That I was sorry this happened to you and I should have protected you from this. I said that understood what he was feeling since I had a daughter myself. And I told him that he was welcome to have dinner sometime so that we could meet."

She takes a sip of coffee. "I guess it could have been worse."

"So… how much of the article was true?"

"I honestly don't know. Ryan and Esposito got me out of there as quickly as they could, said they'd call me today and fill me in with what they found out."

"But you probably won't ever know the whole truth, will you?"

"Probably not since I shot him. The guys should be able to get a pretty clear idea though, and with your story telling abilities, I'm sure we can come up with something plausible."

He gives her a weak smile but doesn't reply.

"Castle," she reaches out to cover his hand with her own. "Stop blaming yourself for this."

"I can't help it. Two men in less than a year's time have come after you because of my work."

"And how many murderers have held a gun to you because of what I do?" she counters.

He shrugs, "I haven't really been counting."

"More than two."

"Yes, but I chose to follow you, to put myself in that kind of danger. You never asked me to create Nikki Heat; I'm sure you prefer that I didn't."

"At the beginning I didn't want you to, but now… I couldn't imagine life without you. I've definitely gotten used to having you around," she leans up to kiss his cheek.

"Thanks, Kate."

"So what are we going to do today, Castle?"

"You're not going in to work?" She shakes her head. "What would you like to do?"

"I really would like to take my frustrations out on the punching bag but…" she holds up her cast.

He smiles, "Wii boxing."

"What?"

"You don't know what a wii is?" She shakes her head again. "It's a videogame system. Like playstation or x-box. But this one you actually act out the movements. Although you might not be able to hold on to the remote too well with that hand."

"You want me to play videogames with you?"

He nods, "Unless you're afraid of losing."

"I don't lose, Castle," she smirks.

"But… you've never played before. And I'm an expert."

"You get it set up while I go change."

A few minutes later Kate comes back in jeans and a sweater, her hair still tied back in a ponytail. Castle smiles, "I'm almost done with your mii."

"My what?" she frowns, looking at the TV screen.

"Mii. Your character for the games. What's your favorite color?"

"You've been following me around for almost two years and you haven't figured it out yet?" she counters.

He selects blue before saving her mii. "Now you can play any of the games," he opens the Wii Sports menu for her. "Boxing, tennis, bowling, golf…"

"This is seriously what you do with Ryan and Esposito?"

"We play other games. More manly games."

"Yes, well, this doesn't make you more manly, Castle," she puts a hand on his cheek, indicating his morning stubble. "Go shave. Or there will be no kissing."

"Kissing?" he tries to hide his excitement.

"Not if you don't go shave right now," she gives him a playful smile before turning back to the TV.

Cursing her under his breath for teasing him, he goes to his bedroom to shave and dress. When he returns to the living room, she is looking through his other games. "Bored already, Detective?"

"It just isn't the same as actually hitting the punching bag."

He smiles, "You're not getting near one of those for quite a while."

"There's always sparring."

"What?" his eyes widen. "You'll probably end up breaking your other arm. Although I wouldn't mind if you did because you wouldn't be able to bathe yourself."

"You saw more than enough last night, Castle, so get that little fantasy out of your head."

"I can't help that my job requires an active imagination."

She rolls her eyes. "I have to call my father. You pick a different game."

Castle watches her walk into the kitchen for some privacy, and as he runs his eyes over his videogame collection, he tries not to eavesdrop on her conversation with her dad. He pulls out Wii Fit Plus, DDR, and Wii Sports Resort. After ten minutes, he wanders into the kitchen to see how she is doing and smiles when he sees her perched on his counter. He takes two bottles of water out of the fridge before sliding onto the counter beside her.

"Love you too, Dad. I'll call you in a few days." Kate hangs up and looks at him. "Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?"

"Not really. I just assumed Alexis, Mother, and I would have dinner like we normally do. Actually, Mother will probably have Chet over, and I was going to ask you to join us."

"I was thinking maybe that would be a good time for you and my dad to meet. It's still a couple weeks away."

He nods, "Invite him over."

"I don't know, Rick. Meeting you will be overwhelming enough for him; Alexis and Martha may be a little too much."

"You don't take many guys home to your dad, do you?"

"Will was the only one since high school."

"Alright. You can decide what you want to do for Thanksgiving; I understand if you'd rather spend it with your dad. How about I take both of you out that weekend for dinner and we can talk just the three of us? And at that point we'll be sick of turkey."

She looks down, "I was thinking maybe we could cook, not go out. A lot can happen with our relationship in two weeks, and I don't want this to become a public spectacle."

He places his hand on hers, "I understand. I'll send Alexis away for the evening and cook dinner."

"Thanks," she smiles.

Rick looks down at their hands and notices the bruising around her right wrist. "From him?" he whispers, lacing his fingers in hers.

She nods. "You know… as comfortable as your kitchen counter is, we probably shouldn't sit here all day."

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews last chapter. I kind of forgot to review with classes starting and all. And I almost forgot to update today even though I only had two classes and one of them was band. So... you're lucky I remembered. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. I believe there are seven more currently written, and I'll probably only write one more. Maybe I won't have too much to do this weekend and can hurry up and finish this up. I'll update again Sunday if I remember.**


	16. Castle's Concern

**Chapter 16: Castle's Concern**

"Come on, Beckett; you can't stay on basic forever," Castle teases. "I think you're just afraid of losing."

"Really?" she hits the down arrow on her mat so that they are both on difficult now. "Bring it, Castle."

He selects a song, and they both start to move as arrows fill the TV screen. Halfway through the song, Alexis enters. Upon seeing the two, she freezes. "What are you guys doing?" she asks slowly.

"Playing DDR. What does it look like we're doing?" he says sarcastically, taking his eyes off the screen momentarily, which causes him to miss a few arrows.

The teenager stands in the entryway to the living room, watching the two adults until the song finishes. "What did you do to Detective Beckett, Dad?" she asks as she hugs him.

"She must be hanging around me too much," he smiles.

"Dad… she beat you," Alexis looks at the TV screen before holding her hand up to Kate for a high five.

Kate smiles as she returns the high five, "Told you you were going down, Castle."

He shakes his head, "Are you sure you've never played any of these games before?"

"You're a very bad loser."

"How was your day?" he asks as the three head to the kitchen.

"Bri asked Paige and me to go with her family to the Hamptons this weekend."

"Are you going?"

"I told her I had to ask you first."

"It's fine with me."

"You two are going to be okay?" she looks from her father to the detective.

"We'll be fine," Kate assures her. "Besides, I have to go home sometime."

There is a knock on the door, and Castle goes to answer it. Ryan and Esposito are on the other side. "Hey, guys. Got some news for us?"

"We have plenty of news," Ryan smirks, holding up a magazine as he enters.

Beckett slowly approaches, wary of the looks on the two detectives' faces. "What's going on?" Castle snatches the magazine from Ryan's hand before she can see his picture on the cover. Her gaze stays on her boys for a moment longer before turning on her partner. "Give me the magazine, Castle."

"I think it can wait until later, Beckett. I'm sure they need to get back to work so we should probably listen to what they have to say," he tries to ignore her as he looks at the detectives and waits for them to continue.

"So you two are dating, huh?" Esposito smirks at Castle, but immediately makes his face neutral when she turns to face him.

"What makes you think that?"

"There are some pretty convincing pictures in that magazine," Ryan says.

Kate grabs the magazine from Castle and flips through it until she finds a picture of her and Castle entering the restaurant that they had eaten at the previous evening. His hand is on her back as he holds the door open for her, Alexis already through the door. She glances at him before reading the half-page article that went with the photographs. When she is done reading, she shoves the magazine at him and turns away from the three men.

Castle speed reads the article before motioning to the boys to go into the kitchen so that they could talk in private. "Kate, I'm sorry. This isn't how I wanted the press to find out," he places a hand on her shoulder.

"I know, Rick. It's just… a little overwhelming. You're used to the press, and I probably never will be," she slowly turns toward him.

"They don't really have any concrete evidence. I can talk to Paula later, have them release a statement that we're just friends. We might still be able to postpone revealing it for a little while."

She nods, "Ask her what she thinks. If it's better to reveal it now, maybe we should."

"It's not going to last forever, Kate. Someone more famous will do something reckless, and they'll be all over that and leave us alone."

"I know… but it's still going to interfere with my job. They'll still recognize me and… make fun of me."

"And I'm really sorry that I didn't keep your name a secret."

"They would've found out. They would see you with me and know that I'm your muse. They would look at how many female homicide detectives have the initials KB. They would know when they saw us going to dinner together."

"Now I know what the witness protection people have to deal with," he smiles, and she returns it.

"Let's go see what the guys found out," she takes his hand and squeezes it.

When the two walk in hand-in-hand, the detectives look at their intertwined hands before looking at each other. "I get the feeling that that article was correct," Ryan smiles.

"We're trying things out," Beckett confirms. "But you can't tell anyone. We don't really want the press to know that it's true yet."

They nod in agreement. "Lanie would be interested in this," Esposito muses.

"She already knows," she smiles. They look hurt at not being the first to know.

"I'm going to go up to my room. I've got homework to do," Alexis excuses herself from the conversation.

"So what'd you find out?" Castle asks when his daughter is gone.

"His name was James Hallirook. Currently works in editing at the _Post_ and used to be a journalist there. Lives in Manhattan. We visited his apartment; he had a little Nikki Heat shrine," Esposito informs them.

"We didn't really get any answers to the why he was after you. We located a brother who is going to come to the station tomorrow morning to talk," Ryan says.

"He probably read _Heat Wave_ and noticed the similarity between himself and Rook. Decided he wanted Nikki Heat," Castle theorizes.

"The brother must have some answers for us. He said he wants to talk to Nikki Heat," Ryan glances at Beckett.

Esposito continues, "We talked to Montgomery about it. He said the department psychologist would be there tomorrow at nine for you, and then you can talk to Mr. Hallirook."

Kate nods, "I'll be there."

"We'll have someone in there with you just in case both brothers are crazy."

"I want to be in there," Castle says.

She looks at him, "I don't know, Castle. It doesn't seem like a good idea for you to be in there."

"You think I'll lose control and take my anger out on him?"

She hesitates before nodding. "Honestly, yes, I do. You tend to get a little… protective."

"Fine. If I can't go in, I want to watch."

"Conference rooms don't have observation rooms, Castle," she smirks. "I can't put him in an interrogation room just because of what his brother did."

Rick pouts.

"That's about all we know," Ryan says.

"Thanks, guys," Beckett gives them a weak smile. "Busy today?"

"Yeah. Got another murder to solve. But you're not missing much; this one's not Beckett flavored." She rolls her eyes at Esposito's comment. "See you two tomorrow."

The four head to the door. Ryan turns around before Castle shuts the door, "You better pay up since we're keeping your secret."

"Just name your price, boys," Castle smiles.

They look at each other and smile. "Free videogames."

"And two all-expense dinner dates each at the most expensive restaurants in the city," Esposito adds.

Kate shakes her head as Castle closes the door. "I really don't understand you guys."

He laughs, "It's not that hard, Kate. Videogames and women."

"You're putting me second… to videogames? I knew you were shallow, Castle, but I didn't think you were that low," she teases him with a mischievous smile.

"You are second in my life, Kate. Second to Alexis."

"That I can deal with."

She follows as Castle wanders into the kitchen, "So a Nikki Heat shrine? Wonder what that was like?"

"They were sparing us the details."

"I know that," he retorts, and she smirks. "I guess this was a pretty bad case for all of us."

"It's always bad when one of your own is involved."

He begins to prepare spaghetti for their dinner, "So… you're going to go home?"

"Yeah. Saturday maybe. Things can get back to normal. Monday you can come in and follow me again."

"What about us?"

"We haven't even been on a first date, Castle. I don't normally spend the night with men I haven't even started dating."

"So let's have our first date tomorrow. Alexis will be gone. We can go out or I can cook for you. Whatever you want."

"I don't normally spend the night after only the first date," she counters.

"Kate, I'm not asking you to do anything you don't want to. I just want you to stay here with me."

She comes around the counter and pulls him into a hug. "Are you afraid that something's going to happen to me if I leave you or are you afraid that I'm going to change my mind if we try to go back to our normal lives?" she asks, pulling back to look in his eyes.

"Both," he whispers, kissing the cut on her forehead.

**A/N: Thank you for reading again. I'm going to try to answer reviews again, but college is just so much work. So... I will try to update again on Wednesday if I'm not too busy. I was going to try to finish the story this weekend, but that didn't really happen. I have a feeling I'm going to give it a temporary ending and then go back and write some other events I'm sure you guys would like to see during Thanksgiving or something when I have more time. Seven chapters to go.**


	17. Love Made Public

**Chapter 17: Love Made Public**

"Good morning, Beckett," Montgomery greets her. "The psychologist is waiting in the conference room."

"Can I talk to you for a minute, sir?"

"You are not getting out of seeing the psychologist, Detective."

"About Castle."

"Come on in," the captain shuts the door to his office behind her. "What is the problem?"

"I thought that I should tell you that Castle and I are… dating."

"And best of luck to the two of you. But he's not a cop; you didn't have to tell me."

"I just thought it'd be better if you knew. But, um… sir… Castle is having a hard time dealing with what happened. I think he might benefit from seeing the psychologist a couple times."

Montgomery sighs, "I suppose… I could allow that since he is working with law enforcement and since this is a result of his working with us. But if he needs regular counseling, he's going to have to find someone else, Beckett."

"Thank you, sir," Kate exits the office and heads to the conference room to see the psychologist.

**CB**

When she comes out, he is sitting in her chair, his feet resting on the corner of her desk. "Your turn, Castle," she motions to the conference room.

He hurriedly gets out of her chair. "My turn?"

"Yes. You need to talk."

"Can't I just talk to you?"

"You can always talk to me. But I think you need to talk to someone else too. All I ask is half an hour."

"Can I go in with you when you question the brother? I'll keep my mouth shut," he tries to bargain with her.

"Fine."

He comes out exactly half an hour later and sits in his chair beside her desk. "It wasn't so bad," he mumbles.

"Good," she smiles.

"Have dinner with me tonight."

"Didn't we talk about this yesterday?"

"I don't think you ever really answered."

"Yes, Castle, I will have dinner with you."

"Am I cooking or are we going out?"

"Doesn't matter."

Esposito approaches her desk, "Mr. Hallirook is here."

"Castle's going in with me," Kate stands, and the writer follows suit.

The detective looks from his boss to her shadow and back again. "Okay. Ryan and I will wait by the door."

She enters the conference room, Castle close behind her, and offers her hand to the man who looked quite a bit like his brother. Before she can introduce herself, he speaks, "Nikki Heat. I can see why my brother liked you so much."

"Actually it's Detective Kate Beckett," she takes a seat across from him, her shadow doing the same. "This is Mr. Castle."

"So, Detective, what did you need me to come down here for?"

"You're aware of the fact that your brother was obsessed with Nikki Heat?"

"I wouldn't call it obsessed…"

"He was stalking me. He broke into my apartment three times because he wanted Nikki Heat. I call that obsessed. Now, why did he like Nikki so much?"

He shrugs, "I guess because of that guy from the book. He always talked about how that character was based on him, how he was meant to have Nikki Heat."

"He didn't recognize that it was purely coincidental that he and Rook were similar? He didn't realize that she was a fictional character?"

Mr. Hallirook smiles, "She's obviously not all fiction."

Kate looks down at the table and closes her eyes. The physical similarities of the brothers were starting to bother her, and he sure wasn't making it any easier on her. "Mr. Hallirook -"

"You can call me John, Nikki."

She sighs, "Kate. My name is Kate."

"Either way I'm sure my brother didn't deserve to be shot."

Castle, no longer able to keep his mouth shut, lets his anger out. "Your brother attacked her in her own home. He was going to rape her. Now, I can understand wanting to defend your family, but he was going to harm an innocent woman. Sometimes your morals have to take over even when your family is involved."

"Innocent? She doesn't look too innocent to me," Mr. Hallirook smiles at the author before turning to Beckett. "Besides, you might have liked what he was going to do. He's probably better than this loser," he gestures to Castle.

"Thank you for your time," she tries to keep her face straight as she quickly stands and exits the room.

Rick quickly follows her, leaving Ryan and Esposito looking after them in confusion, and catches up with her in the elevator. They have the car to themselves as they ride down. "I'm sorry. I should've kept my mouth shut," he says quietly, looking straight ahead.

"It wasn't you, Castle."

"Let's go home, forget this whole thing happened, and have dinner," he turns to face her, resting a hand on her arm.

She grabs his left arm and lifts it up to her face so she can see his watch. "You do know it's not even noon yet."

He smiles, "I'll cook and we'll have an earlier dinner. Then we can do whatever you want to."

"I don't know, Castle," she shakes her head. He is about to protest, to tell her that she promised to have dinner with him, when she continues. "I probably have another crazy Nikki Heat fan after me now. And he doesn't seem to be a Castle fan so I should probably go home; we wouldn't want Alexis to come home and not have a father, would we?"

"Please, Kate. Stay until we know whether or not he's going to come after you. And if he does, until he's caught. I know you're a cop and I'm probably pretty worthless when it comes to protecting you, but I'm a guy; let me at least think that I'm protecting the woman I love."

Kate freezes on the sidewalk outside of the precinct. "Rick?"

He turns around in front of her, not yet aware of what he said. "Something wrong?"

"Do you really mean that?"

He thinks for a moment before realizing that he had pretty much told her that he loved her. "Yes. I don't want to scare you away, but… I do, Kate. This isn't exactly how I wanted to tell you, and I definitely do not want you to say it back to me until you're ready to do so. If you ever are."

She gives him a small smile before wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you, Rick. I don't know what I did to deserve you." This time the statement is meant in a positive way.

When lights begin to flash around them, he quickly pulls away from her. As the reporters start to ask questions, he grabs her arm and starts running down the sidewalk. She keeps his pace, not wanting to leave him behind for the reporters to attack. He tugs on her arm, trying to pull her into one of the shops as they pass it, but she shakes her head, nodding to the wedding dress in the window. They duck into a store a couple doors down and race to the checkout counter. "Back exit?" Castle manages to get out as he pants. Beckett flashes her badge, and the worker points toward the back of the store.

The partners take off again and are able to escape the reporters, who cannot get around the chain of stores before they are safely in a cab. Castle's chest heaves up and down as he inhales deeply, exhausted from their run. He looks over at her; she is smiling, her breathing only slightly faster than normal. "You really need to start working out, Castle. Especially if we're going to be running from the press again."

**CB**

"Paula said she'll take care of it. She's got the details if anyone calls. There will probably be some article about us in the next few days," Castle sits next to her on the couch.

She looks up from _Crime and Punishment_, "I'm sure the pictures are already all over your fan sites."

"We just won't go on the internet."

"And… shouldn't we be telling Martha about us? Won't she be upset if she doesn't hear it from us first?"

"Mother? She won't care; she'll just say that it's about time."

"But maybe… we should give her a call. Let her know."

He smiles, "Kate… Mother doesn't have to know everything. I understand you wanting to tell your father before he finds out from the media, but… Mother's kind of used to this."

The detective is about to respond when they hear the door open. Seconds later Martha walks into view, "Kate, Richard, is it true? I just saw a picture on the internet of the two of you together outside the precinct, and there are rumors going around that you're dating."

She glares at him for a moment before turning to his mother. "Yes, Martha, Rick and I are… dating."

"How long?"

"Um… a few days. No more than a week," he smiles at his mother.

Martha leans down to give Kate a hug. "Welcome to the family, dear."

Rick sees her tense up. "Mother, we're not getting married; we're just dating."

"Yes, well, don't screw this up, Richard," she sits in one of the chairs. "So Alexis is gone for the weekend?"

"Yeah, she went to the Hamptons with some friends."

"You guys have big plans?"

"Actually, Mother, I was just going to start cooking dinner for us," he stands, waiting for her to do the same.

"Are you kicking me out?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"Fine. I'll let you two have some privacy," Martha stands, smiling at them one last time before heading to the door.

**A/N: So I'm not entirely sure how I forgot to update yesterday... especially since I spent at least an hour writing last night. Anyway, I liked my temporary ending that I was going to give the story, but then it inspired me to write more now. So I wrote instead of studying last night. At least it was just a chemistry quiz over sig figs and conversions... Hopefully I can keep the writing up so that you guys don't have to wait forever. There were some events I thought you guys would be a little disappointed about if they didn't appear in the story so I wanted to include them. Oh, thanks to all who reviewed. I forgot to reply to the reviews too... Although I was actually doing homework Monday and Tuesday when I was getting reviews. So... I will try to reply this time.**


	18. Extraordinary

**Chapter 18: Extraordinary**

Rick takes her hand and leads her to the couch. "Whatever you want to do."

"Let's just continue talking," she curls up on the couch, her feet underneath her, and he sits down beside her. "I… want to know why your other marriages didn't work out."

"Meredith… was having an affair. But she's the one that wanted the divorce. She wasn't as happy as she was when we first got married. She wanted to go to LA to act, and I wanted to stay in New York. Had she not gotten pregnant with Alexis, I probably would have never married her. In the end, we just wanted different things. And she was a little crazy; she didn't quite understand the idea of parenting and setting an example for your kids."

"How'd you get Alexis?"

"Do I really have to explain how a baby is made, Kate?" he smirks, knowing what she had meant but teasing her because of her poor choice of words. She rolls her eyes. "Hard to believe but I'm actually the more responsible parent. Plus I had flexibility with my job; I had enough money to support a child and I can write whenever and wherever I want."

"You are a great father. I've only met Meredith once, but she didn't exactly strike me as the mother type."

He nods, "With Gina… well, I told you she was just after my money. When I finally realized that all she wanted was money and the attention that came with being Richard Castle's wife, I divorced her."

"And she's still your publisher because…?"

"I couldn't switch publishers in the middle of Derrick Storm. I didn't bother to switch with Nikki Heat because they actually do a pretty good job with publicity and all that. And I get a decent pay check."

"So neither one of these failed marriages is your fault?" she looks up into his eyes.

"I'd say that most of the blame goes on them, but I'm sure some of it is my fault too. But I never cheated or lied or did anything else that was grounds for a divorce."

"A playboy like you has never gotten bored when confined to one woman and cheated on her?"

"Nope. You don't have to worry about that, Kate; yes, I may glance at other women, but I would never do anything. I could never get bored with you."

Kate blushes and looks down at her hands. "Castle, we haven't even kissed. You can't say things like that." They had mutually decided that the millisecond-long kiss they had had the other night did not count as a first kiss without actually discussing the matter.

"I'm through with marriage, Kate. I want this to work between us. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She takes a deep breath and slowly releases it. "And what about Kyra?" she asks, needing to turn the conversation away from the seriousness of their relationship.

"She said she needed space and left. I gave her space. Too much space. We both moved on. I learned that if I want something, I have to fight for it," he looks into her eyes, and she understands that he was talking about fighting for her. "What about you?"

"Will was the one I was most serious with. It lasted about two years. He wanted me to move with him when he got transferred, and I wasn't going to do that to my career. After he was shot, we went out a couple times. When you and I weren't speaking. But I broke it off before things could get too serious again. He knows at least as much about me as you do."

"That's it?" She looks up at him, confused whether he was referring to her lack of information on Will or her relationships in general. "You've only been with one man?"

"There was one guy in college that was relatively serious. He cheated. We broke up about a month before my mom's death. After her death, it was hard to date. There was a guy about a year before Will, but that just didn't work out; I can't really remember what happened with him. And before that… well, let's just say I was like Nikki. Except I actually liked my training officer and she just sleeps with hers for the heck of it."

He grins at her, "Really? What happened with that?"

"You know that whole yin-yin and yin-yang thing you talked about when you found out about Will and me? That was more with him than with Will."

"The good news is that we're pretty much as opposite as it can get so we don't have to worry about that."

"Yes, we have way more than that to deal with," she rests her head on his shoulder, and silence envelops them for the next few minutes. "Rick?" she whispers.

"Yeah?"

"When you said you were done with marriage…"

He puts his arm around her, "I meant that you're the last woman I'd ever marry." She frowns, and it takes a moment for his words to sink in to his brain. "No, that came out wrong. I meant that… I'm done with love if things don't work out between us."

"That's a lot of pressure."

"If I go through four serious relationships and none of them work out, there must be something wrong with me."

"There was something wrong with you long before I came into the picture," she smirks. "I can't make any promises, but I'll try my best not to let that happen to you."

"This probably isn't something to talk about on a first date," Rick places his hand on hers, "but… do you want kids?"

"I can't say I have ever had that conversation on a first date." Kate pauses for a few moments before answering. "I never really considered it that much. You kind of have to get married first, and I haven't really had much luck with that. And with my job… well, most of the cops are men, and they can handle it alright. But being a female detective I just assumed it would never happen. What about you?"

"Well, I have Alexis. It's enough for me. But if you want to have kids, I'm perfectly willing to have more. I just hope they're not like me. And… I'd be willing to quit shadowing you and watch the kids so that you could work."

"That's sweet of you, Castle. But… wouldn't it be awkward for Alexis? She's already eighteen, and we're nowhere near having kids."

"She always wanted a sibling when she was little." He gently rubs her hand with his thumb, creating random patterns. "Your turn."

She takes a few moments to think about what she wanted to ask before settling on one question. "Why did you choose me to be your muse?"

"Didn't I already tell you this?" he smiles.

"Being tall is not an answer, Castle."

"No… but I told you almost a week ago. All that stuff I revealed before you told me not to go there, that things would never work out. And you gave your long list of reasons why. Kate, I was captivated by you from the first time I saw you. And then we started working together on that case and I liked you even more. I chose you for all the reason I saw before: your intelligence, your compassion, your independence, your dedication. And after Derrick Storm, I wanted to write a female character. After all, I couldn't really have a slutty male character," he grins, and she smacks him in the chest. "Seriously, Kate, you are extraordinary."

"You know… that's another thing we need to talk about."

He looks over at her, confused. She is looking at the coffee table in front of them, and he follows her gaze, finding that she is staring at _Crime and Punishment_. "Raskolnikov tried to prove that he was extraordinary by killing another human being; you don't have to prove how extraordinary you are, Kate. Sure, you take lives, but you still feel the guilt, you still recognize how wrong it is. I could see that today when you looked at the brother of the man that you shot. You do what you have to do to protect people."

"He thought he could get away with murder because he was above the law, and I do get away with murder. There's no denying that it's murder even if it is to protect someone," Kate whispers, slowly lifting her eyes to meet his.

"Raskolnikov wants to be extraordinary. The Kate Beckett I know would rather be ordinary. She doesn't like to stand out. Sometimes she doesn't like what she has to do but she does it anyway. She would rather not be annoyed by pesky writers all day long and have her life available for all to see."

"I don't remember ever saying that," she smiles, then hesitates. "If I really didn't like this pesky writer, would I do this?" Kate leans forward to kiss him, and this time he doesn't turn away from her. The kiss last only a few seconds before she pulls back.

Rick smiles as she bites her lips, looking away from him. "It's okay, Kate. I'm not going anywhere, and I hope you don't either."

"I just don't want to mess things up," she whispers.

He gently tucks his hand under her chin and lifts her face up so that he can look into her eyes. "You won't," he whispers back before kissing her again.

**A/N: I was going to wait and post this tomorrow in honor of the premiere but I couldn't resist. Plus I'm trying to avoid studying for biology. Anyway, you will be very happy to know that I wrote two chapters this weekend instead of studying, which brings us up to twenty-six I believe. There will be at least one more, maybe two; I'm not sure how to end so we'll have to see. Hopefully you enjoyed their first date because the second will not end so well. Thanks again.**


	19. Expectations

**Chapter 19: Expectations**

Kate slowly opens her eyes and yawns, not yet ready to get up despite the sunlight seeping through the blinds covering the window. She tries to turn away from the sunlight but finds a strong arm around her stomach and a hard body pressed against her back.

Castle feels her moving and scoots back slightly so that she can get comfortable. "Morning," he whispers, wide awake as he watches her.

She frowns at him, "You know… I think I like it better when Alexis is here and you get up with her. Then I'm not aware of the fact that you stare at me when I sleep."

He smiles, his arm draped loosely across her stomach as she lies on her back, "But you're peaceful when you sleep. It's nice to see that side of you. Don't get me wrong – I like you all the time – but it's nice to know that you do have moments of peace in your life."

She leans in to kiss him. "No matter how sweet you try to make it seem, Castle, it's still creepy."

"I can't help it, Kate," Rick kisses her again. "You're -"

"- Extraordinary," she finishes for him, rolling her eyes.

"Beautiful. I was going to say you're beautiful."

"Expanding your vocabulary?" she teases with another eye roll.

"I'm serious, Kate." He rests his head next to hers on the pillow. "I think we should have a talk."

She looks away from him, trying to conceal her feelings of hurt and despair. "We kiss and you decide that I'm not good enough after all? Or is it because I refused to sleep with you on the first date and you're not used to that? Or is it that you realized that I am not and never will be Nikki Heat?"

"Kate," Castle puts his hand on her cheek so that she will face him, but she moves out of his reach. "Look at me."

"Just say it," she sits up and moves so that she is facing him but refuses to let her eyes meet his.

"I'm not breaking up with you, Kate. Yes, you're the first woman in a long time that I haven't slept with on a first date, but that doesn't matter to me. Hell, I didn't even think I'd get a kiss on this first date. But I did; lots of kisses actually. And I have never felt so much in just a kiss. I fell in love with Kate Beckett long before Rook fell in love with Nikki Heat."

"Really?" she finally meets his gaze. "Because that book was published like six months after we met, and I'm sure page 105 was the easiest for you to write."

Rick smiles, happy to have successfully placated her fears for the time being. "Yes. I loved you the minute you walked into that interrogation room to question me. Since then, I've just fallen even more in love with you."

"So…" Kate lies back down next to him, "starting with 'we need to talk' really isn't such a good idea; I'd think a writer would know all about that cliché. And we really do not need to discuss whether or not I am okay with every single step as we move forward in our relationship. If I wasn't okay, I wouldn't have kissed you. Multiple times."

"I think we should talk about… what we expect from each other in this relationship."

"Expectations?"

"Yeah… like I expect you to talk to me if something is bothering you even though I know it's sometimes hard for you to discuss your personal life."

"I'll try. And I expect you to keep your hands to yourself when we're in public, especially when I'm at work."

"That's not going to work." At her glare, he explains. "I can do the at work part. But if we're out in public on a date or at some publicity thing…"

"Wait, you expect me to go to all of your little publicity things? Why? So they can advertise that the real life Nikki Heat will be there? I'm not doing autographs, Castle."

"Not all of my publicity events. Just all of the really important ones. Which will probably be quite a few since the movie will come out next summer."

Kate sighs, "Castle, it's bad enough that the media is all over us dating. Now we have to… advertise that we're together and give them more to publish about us?"

"If you don't go as my date, they'll set me up with someone. They don't like their playboy being dateless."

"Yeah, well you're not a playboy anymore, Rick. Not while we're dating."

He's afraid she's going to pull away from him again, but she stays put. "I'll talk to them, Kate. I can't promise that they won't put some starlit on my arm if you're not there, but… the longer we're together and the more serious this becomes, the more willing they will be to work with me."

She nods once to show that she accepted it. "And I suppose I could make an effort to come to your most important events."

"And I'm willing to pay for whatever you need for these events – dresses, shoes, jewelry. I'd rather have you on my arm than some starlit."

"That's another thing, Castle. I… I don't need you to go around flaunting your wealth to know that you care."

"I know that, Kate. I've been following you for over a year and a half. You like simple things. I can't promise that I won't spend money on you – after all, you have made me very rich lately – but I will try to contain myself."

"If I'm going to come to all of your publicity things, I want something in return," she bargains.

"Anything you want."

"No more chests." Rick frowns at her, more confused than disappointed. She goes on to explain what she meant. "You like to sign women's bodies," she gestures to her own chest. "I want that to stop. And the flirting. I know you can't help it sometimes, but please try."

"That all?"

She thinks for a moment before nodding. "For now."

He kisses her before smiling. "So what do you want to do today?"

She shrugs before leaning forward to kiss him again. Just as their lips touch, his phone rings. She frowns, "Who calls you this early on a Saturday?"

He grabs his phone off the night stand, "Apparently Esposito does."

As he talks to the detective, she rests her head on his chest above his heart, content to listen to his heart beat. When he hangs up, she asks, "What did he want?"

"The boys want to use one of their free meal tokens tonight. They asked if I could get them reservations at that new Italian place on Lexington. Actually, they wanted to know if we would like to triple."

"Hm?" she raises her head to look at him.

"Go on a triple date with them? You know… Ryan and Jenny, Esposito and Lanie, you and me? All at one table?"

"Oh… Guess it doesn't matter to me."

"Good because I told them yes."

Her phone rings just then. "Hey, Lanie," she answers.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I wanted to know if you wanted to go shopping. We need dresses for tonight."

"We didn't have plans for today so I guess that's fine."

"I'll pick you up in two hours. We can shop, grab a snack, and then come back to my place to get ready. Have writer-boy pick you up here."

"See you then, Lanie." Kate hangs up, and reaches across him to put her phone back on the nightstand. "We're going shopping. You're supposed to pick me up at Lanie's."

"I suppose after all of this time together I could let you go for the afternoon."

"Good 'cause I was going whether you wanted me to or not."

"So… does this mean you're not going back to your place today?"

"No. I thought you wanted me to stay until we knew more about the older of the two Hallirook brothers."

"I do." Castle pauses before he continues speaking. "You don't think he'll try anything while you're shopping today, do you?"

"Ryan texted me yesterday afternoon. They heard most of the conversation in the conference room yesterday and put a surveillance team on him. He must not be doing anything suspicious since they haven't said anything else about it."

He lays there with his arm around her for a few minutes before speaking again. "If tonight is our second date, does that mean we'll get to second base?"

"I didn't know we ever made it to first. Besides, I don't think you'd be too happy if we stopped at second," she teases.

"I'm content with whatever you want, Kate. I know that we'll get there eventually, and I'm enjoying the journey, which is not something I do often."

"They always talk about how art imitates life… or life imitates art," she muses aloud. "Which is this?"

"Definitely the first. Nikki and Rook got together first, but it was based on our relationship."

"Now you're going to tell me you're psychic and knew that we'd end up together."

He smiles, "Nope. More like hoping you would see how important you are to me."

"Are the books the way you imagined it would happen when we finally got together?"

"Not exactly. I figured there would be two ways we'd end up together: we'd kiss and end up in bed together like in _Heat Wave_ or it'd be drawn out like it is in reality. I thought each of these kind of represented us. I'm kind of wild, I guess you would say, and I don't normally mess with all of this because it's not really about the relationship for me. You focus more on that, though, which is why you want to take things slowly. In the book, I went with the first because Nikki is wilder and more slutty than you."

"It's nice to know that you can distinguish between me and Nikki even though some of your fans have a hard time doing so," Kate leans up to kiss him again.

**A/N: I almost forgot to update today. Probably because I spent over three hours reading from my psychology book. Anway, hope you all enjoyed the premiere Monday. I did. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was good nevertheless. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Please review. Oh, and thanks for all the concern about my studies. So far everything is fine, but I really don't have time to write this week with a football game and my parents coming.**


	20. Rook Number Three

**Chapter 20: Rook Number Three**

Rick unlocks his apartment door and lets her in first before following her. He helps her remove her jacket and hangs it up, then removes his own. "I had a good time tonight. Great food, a gorgeous woman beside me… If only it hadn't cost me over five hundred bucks."

"I guess you learned your lesson about giving the boys anything they wanted," she smiles.

"I have to limit them next time," he places his hands on her waist. "Or else they'll make me broke. Well, them and Alexis's college tuition."

"I enjoyed tonight too, Castle," her arms go around his neck. "Jenny is good for Ryan. It's still a little awkward seeing Lanie and Esposito together, but it's nice. She kept pressing me for details on our relationship while we shopped and shared way too much about Esposito."

"What about me?"

"What do you want me to say about you?"

"You should tell me how handsome and charming and intelligent I am."

"In your dreams, Castle," she rolls her eyes.

"What about in yours?" he grins, back to his usual self after being on his best behavior that evening.

She kisses him, "The Castle in my dreams is way better than you. More romantic… hotter…"

"Am I naked in your dreams?" he whispers, kissing her softly.

"Only when I want you to be."

"Do you want me to be naked now?"

"Not now," she shakes her head lightly before pushing him back against the wall and pressing her lips to his.

Beckett pulls back after a moment, thinking she heard something. Castle frowns at her and is just about to ask her what was wrong when he feels a sharp pain on his left forearm. "Whoa," he spots John Hallirook behind her.

"Hello, Nikki."

She quickly turns around despite Castle's arm tightening protectively around her. "How'd… What do you want?"

"Oh, you know what I want, Detective," Hallirook smiles, a knife in his hand.

"Kate," Rick tries to move in between her and the man but she gently presses a hand on his chest to keep him still.

"Put the knife down, Mr. Hallirook."

"I can't do that, Nikki. There can only be one Rook in your life. Me. Let me get rid of him so we can be alone."

She steps in front of Rick completely, "Leave Castle out of this."

"I can't have you cheating on me, Nikki. I deserve better than that. And you deserve better than him."

"You're threatening me with a knife, Mr. Hallirook. What makes you better than him?"

"I don't come with all the baggage he does. There won't be any crazy fans or paparazzi. I'm not a risk."

Castle opens his mouth to comment, but she quickly speaks before he can. "Put down the knife, and I'll go with you."

"What are you doing, Kate?" Castle puts a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off.

"Shut up," both Hallirook and Kate say at the same time.

"Whatever you want, Rook," she takes a small step toward him and holds out her hands. "I'll do whatever you want as long as you leave him alone."

He looks down at her hands and then up at her face, trying to read her. "No tricks, Nikki, or you will pay."

"No tricks," she promises with a small reassuring smile.

Hallirook wraps his hand around her right wrist, pulling her into his side and putting his arm around her waist, the other hand still outstretched toward Castle with the knife. "You look stunning in that dress, Nikki."

"You know," Kate looks from him to Castle, who has a look of complete horror on his face, "maybe we should get rid of him. After all, Nikki and Rook are together; we don't need anyone else." Her arm snakes around his waist.

"You want me to get rid of him?" She nods. "You want to wait over there while I do it? I wouldn't want to get blood on you."

"I want to watch," she smiles. "I want to see him suffer. That arrogant bastard actually thought that he could get me in bed with him."

"Please, Kate." The hurt on Castle's face is almost too much for her to bear and she knows she'll owe him later, but she ignores his pleas.

"You're not going to arrest me for this, are you, Nikki?"

"Of course not," she smiles. "We'll call it self-defense."

"Right. He came at us when we tried to leave him. I merely protected you from him," he returns her smile, no sign of distrust in his eyes.

"And here's a kiss for good luck," she leans forward to kiss his cheek and just before her lips press against his skin, she sweeps his left leg out from underneath him with her right foot and pushes forward with her right arm that is still on his back.

As Hallirook falls forward, he cuts his hand with the knife that was in it. She presses a knee into his back and places a hand firmly on his shoulder to keep him down. "Damn you, Nikki Heat," he curses.

"Castle, get my handcuffs," she orders, looking up at him. He is staring at her. "Castle."

"Right," he says, looking at her for another second before going to get her handcuffs from her stuff in the guest room. When he returns, he helps her handcuff Hallirook. "Where should we put him?"

"Have any rope?"

"No. But I do have duct tape." The two quickly bind the man's feet together so that he cannot escape.

Kate then turns her attention to Castle and the wound on his arm. She helps him to remove his suit jacket before unbuttoning his shirt sleeve and rolling it up to reveal the smooth cut on the his arm. "Where's you first aid stuff?"

"Upstairs bathroom. Under the sink." When she returns, he is hanging his phone up. "Esposito's on the way with Lanie. She wasn't too happy that we ruined their evening. They're calling Ryan on the way here."

She cleans the wound, careful not to look at his face, and applies pressure with a piece of gauze to stop the bleeding. "It doesn't look that deep so I don't think you'll need stitches, but we'll have Lanie look at it."

"Kate?" he whispers.

She finally looks up to meet his gaze, "Yeah?"

"You should have become an actress."

"I'm sorry about what I said, Castle," she averts her eyes. "I didn't mean it. I just… wanted him to believe it so that I could take him down."

"It's okay. You had both of us convinced that you wanted him to kill me. I was getting kind of scared right before you took him down; I really couldn't tell that you were lying to set him up for a take down. Do you always lie that convincingly?"

"I'd think you'd be used to it after almost two years of working together."

"But all those times didn't involve you telling some crazy guy to take my life." Castle studies her for a few moments, deep in thought. "Kate, how am I supposed to know you haven't lied to me?"

"Why would I lie to you?" she lets her green eyes meet his blue ones. He shrugs. "I couldn't lie to you, Castle; you're one of the few people that can actually read me."

"Thanks," he smiles. She returns it. "You okay?"

"Yeah, he just nicked me when he sliced your arm," she lifts her arm and turns slightly so he can see the small cut on her side.

"You want me to check out that cut for you?"

Kate rolls her eyes, "My dress is staying on, Castle."

"I liked that dress," he frowns. "Of course I like everything you wear."

She ignores his comment. "I'm starting to see a pattern here: we go out for dinner, bad things happen. Maybe we should just stay in from now on."

"Hopefully I don't have any more crazy fans that come after you. At least not for a while."

There is a knock on the door and both the detective and the writer go to answer it. "Girl, this had better be good. I was enjoying my dessert," Lanie says, entering the apartment, Esposito behind her.

"Hallirook is in the kitchen," she says, and Esposito walks away from them. "Lanie, can you take a look at this?" she indicates Castle's arm.

The ME lifts the gauze from Castle's wound and studies it. "Not too deep. I'll tape a fresh piece of gauze on it for you," she follows them into the kitchen and bandages his arm.

"Your turn, Kate," Rick turns to her and Lanie follows suit.

"It's just a small cut. I'll put a band-aid on it when I change," she protests.

"Kate," Lanie warns. Slowly she moves her arm and turns to show her the wound. Lanie grabs her friend by the wrist and drags her down the hallway to the guest bedroom. "Take the dress off so I can see it better."

"I'm fine, Lanie. You should probably go look at Hallirook; he had a pretty nasty cut on his hand when I cuffed him."

"Creepy dude is not my friend so I could care less whether or not he's okay," she unzips Kate's dress for her. Kate reluctantly removes the dress and lets Lanie see her wound. She tries to hide her wince as Lanie cleans the wound. "Must have stabbed you with the tip of the knife. Looks a little deeper but you should be fine without stitches."

When she finishes up, Kate puts on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. "Thanks, Lanie."

"So what were you a Castle doing when this happened?"

"Not what you and Esposito were doing."

"Were you going to?"

"I don't know, Lanie. Probably not but… you know how things happen."

**A/N: Sorry for not updating earlier in the day. My parents came to visit, and I've had a headache and stomachache all day long. And they still haven't gone away. Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow they'll be better. And at least I got most of my homework done ealier in the weekend. Anyway... hope you liked this chapter. More to come Wednesday. I'm so excited for new Castle tomorrow.**


	21. Not Staying

**Chapter 21: Not Staying**

Kate sits down by Castle at the kitchen counter and waits for him to finish up his phone conversation. He places his hand on her cast. "Alright, Mother. I'll talk to you later."

"What did she want?" she asks when he hangs up the phone.

He reaches out to tuck a strand of damp hair behind her ear, "She is going with Chet to see his family for Thanksgiving, which leaves me and Alexis. Have you talked to your dad yet?"

"No."

"Well… you could invite him for Thanksgiving. It'll only be the four of us. And I'm sure you should be worried about whether or not he approves of me more than whether or not he approves of Alexis."

"True. After all, I don't know anyone who doesn't like your daughter," Kate smiles. "Speaking of Alexis, when is she coming back?"

He looks at the clock, "Couple hours. She's going to cook dinner. So you had better not leave or you'll disappoint her."

"Seriously, Castle, I need to go home. You don't have to worry. We caught both of the bad guys. And I'm not going to ignore you; we'll go out for another date Tuesday or Wednesday or… whatever day you like as long as I don't have to work late on a case."

"But… Kate, please."

"I'll stay for dinner, but then I have to go. I have to work tomorrow so I need to rest. I'll give you a call in the morning if we have a case; Montgomery might make me stay in the precinct though because of my arm."

"There's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?" She shakes her head. "Even if I get on my knees and beg you to stay?" Another head shake. "Even if I make Alexis beg you to stay?"

"Rick, I'm not staying the night. Not for a little while."

"But you'll come over and spend time with us?"

"Sometimes. But I have a job to do, and you have a daughter to spend time with."

"We can all spend time together."

"If Alexis doesn't mind. Just tell me when your next movie night or game night or whatever you two do together is and I'll try to come over if she wants to include me."

Rick stands up and walks from the room. She remains seated at the counter, not sure what to say to him to make this easier for him. Just as she is about to go after him, he comes back into the kitchen. "I want you to have this," he slides something across the counter to her.

Upon seeing that it is a key, she takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. "I can't move in with you, Rick. Not yet," she says quietly.

"I'm not asking you to move in right now. I just want you to know that you're welcome here at all times."

"Shouldn't you ask Alexis before doing this?" Kate hesitates as she reaches out for the key.

"I talked to her yesterday when you were out with Lanie. She is fine with it."

"Castle…"

"I just want you to be comfortable. You can come over whenever you want if you want to talk, whether it be about something personal or a case. Or if you just need to be with someone else you can come over. Whatever you want, Kate."

"Does this mean you expect me to give you a key to my place?"

He shakes his head, "Only if you want to. But I am perfectly okay with knocking on your door at three in the morning if I want to talk to you."

"Good. Then I'll just ignore you."

"I cannot be ignored, Kate," he smiles at her.

"Want to bet?"

"No. That would be as cruel as making me think that you wanted me dead."

"Good," she kisses him. "Ignoring you would be very hard to do."

"Because I'm so annoying or because you like me?" When she pretends to think about that, he kisses her again.

She gently pushes him back when he tries to deepen the kiss. "Not right now or we won't get anything done before your daughter gets home. Go shower. I'll call my dad."

"Kate," he pouts.

She pulls out her phone and shows him that she was going to ignore him for the time being. After she puts the phone to her ear, he gets up and heads to his bedroom. "Hey, Dad."

**CB**

"Hey," Alexis says timidly from the doorway of the guest room.

Kate turns and smiles at the teenager, "How was your trip? I thought your dad said we still had a few hours until you got back."

"Good. We decided to leave right after breakfast."

"Your dad's in the shower. Actually he's been in there for a while. Probably staring at the mirror and telling himself how handsome he is."

"Yeah, I heard the water. I didn't see you so I thought maybe you were…"

The detective quickly shakes her head, "No."

"You're leaving aren't you?" Alexis nods towards the suitcase that Kate had been packing. "Did he do something?"

"It's not him. And it's not you. I just have to go home, let things go back to normal."

"You and my dad… broke up?"

"No, your dad and I are fine. I… Well, under normal dating circumstances, I would not be spending the night after only two dates. I've been living here for over a week. Now that we have caught the bad guys, I should go home. We're still going to date. I'll come over for movie night or game night or… laser tag since that seems to be popular with you guys if you want me to. Actually, your dad invited me and my father to join you for Thanksgiving."

"So it's kind of like when Gram moved out. You'll mainly be living at your own place but you'll still come over here sometimes."

"Yeah. Kind of like that."

"You've only been here a week, and I've already gotten used to having you around," Alexis looks away from the detective, embarrassed for seeming so clingy.

Kate walks over to the teenager and envelops her in a hug. "It's okay."

The red-head puts her arms around her, returning the hug. "I don't know how I'm going to be able to leave my dad next year," she whispers.

"You'll both get through it. It will be hard at first, but you'll get used to it. He just wants you to be happy, Alexis. Of course he wants you to be close, but if the school you really like is across the country, he'll manage. And so will you."

"Thanks, Kate."

"If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come to me." Kate looks up as Rick steps into the doorway.

He smiles, "Bonding time?"

"Dad," Alexis quickly lets go of Kate to hug her dad.

"Did you have fun? Do anything illegal?"

"Dad," she repeats with an eye roll.

"Hm… maybe I need to interfere on your bonding time more often. She's starting to pick up your bad habits."

"You just bring out the best in us, Castle," Beckett smirks before turning back around to finish packing.

"I have laundry to do. And homework. And I have to cook. I was thinking maybe an early dinner so Kate could get home."

"Sure," Rick lets his daughter walk away so she could get busy. "So… even my daughter couldn't convince you to stay?"

"Nope."

"You know I had absolutely nothing to do with that."

She eyes him for a moment before answering. "Yes."

"What do I have to do to make you stay?"

"Nothing because it's not going to happen, Rick."

"Is it because we haven't slept together?"

"No. Well, yes. That generally comes before living together."

Castle sighs. "Alright. Can you give me some sort of timeline then?"

She zips up her suitcase before turning to frown at him. "I can't predict the future, Castle. I have no idea when we're going to sleep together."

"When's the soonest you would move in with me?"

"I don't know, Castle. What's with all the questions? Do you do this to all the women you go out with?"

"Just you. Because I don't want you to leave."

She hugs him, which takes him by surprise. "I know you don't want me to go. But I want to do this the right way. Staying with you isn't right even if you are not pressuring me for more. I do like it here with you and Alexis, but it's not right."

"Well, Kate, we've never exactly had a normal relationship. I mean… I'm sure the only reason we're together is because of this crazy fan that came after you."

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that you have feelings for me?"

"Yes, I do have feelings for you. But the attack was a catalyst; it made me act on those feelings." Rick keeps his arms around her but pulls back so he can see her face. "Do you have feelings for me?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here right now," she smiles and kisses him lightly on the lips. "Now… you go write or pretend to write while you sulk in your office because I'm not staying. I'm going to see if your daughter needs help with dinner."

**A/N: So I still haven't gotten around to finishing this story. And I doubt it will happen soon with midterms next week and our Montreal trip for band. Maybe this weekend... Anyway, I would like to thank you all for the reviews. I'm so happy to reach the two hundred mark. And thanks to all of you who have the story on alert. For those of you who saw Monday's episode, I must say that I think I like James better than Alexander. At least it helped me explain the character names. Next week looks pretty intense, and then we meet her boyfriend the following week. Shoot... I'll be in Canada that day. Actually more likely I'll be on the bus on the way home. Well... I shall post again hopefully Sunday. I feel like I have so much to do yet I'm still sitting here doing nothing.**


	22. Thank You

**Chapter 22: Thank You**

Castle sits in his chair next to her desk. When he doesn't say anything, she sets down her pen and looks up at him. "What? It's only seven-thirty, and we agreed to have dinner together tomorrow."

"Yes… but you're still here."

"I have a job to do. This paperwork needs done. It should have been done over a week ago, but because of what happened, I did not get to finish it."

"You're exhausted, Kate. You got four hours of sleep last night. Can't you at least take it home to finish?"

"If I take it home, it won't get done. I'll fall asleep. I'm less likely to fall asleep at my desk."

"But you have before," he smiles.

Beckett sighs, "Do you need something, or did you just come to bother me?"

"Come home with me. Mother cooked dinner for us yesterday, and there are plenty of leftovers."

"Castle, paperwork. I won't do it if I'm with you."

"I'll wake you up early. You can come in and do it after you eat and get some rest," he takes her hand.

"That won't happen."

"Coming home with me or getting up early to do paperwork?"

"Both. Besides, what if I get called in on another case early in the morning? Then this just gets put off even longer."

"You already caught the killer, Kate."

She sighs again, which is a sign that she is giving in. "It's only been two days, Castle."

"So?"

"If I come over, we'll end up talking all night."

"No, we won't. I'll let you sleep."

She looks back down at the file in front of her, then back up at him. As she stands, she closes the file folder. "If I stay tonight, Castle, I'm not staying tomorrow. We'll go out, but after that I'm going home."

"Okay," he takes her hand. "That gives me over twenty-four hours to change your mind."

"I won't give in to you two days in a row, Castle."

"I can be pretty persuasive, Detective."

She rubs her eyes as they wait for the elevator, "If you say so."

"Hm… point taken," he decides, remembering the last time he had taken her to his home from the precinct and, having been unsuccessful at convincing her to stay, the attack from his deranged fan. They exit the precinct, and he is distracted from his thoughts by her taking her keys out. "You're tired. Maybe I should drive." He is startled by the severity of her glare; he had thought her too tired to use up that much energy on a look. "Or maybe not."

Kate gets in the car, and Rick follows suit. She puts the key in the ignition before pausing to look at him. "I thought you hated my car. Why would you want to be seen driving it?"

"Because I don't want you to fall asleep while driving."

"That's sweet," she smiles and starts the car, "but you're still not driving."

"Are you sure? I think you need to feel this spring in the passenger seat. Then maybe you'll understand my pain."

**CB**

"Hey," Alexis smiles when her dad and the detective enter the apartment. "I have leftovers heating in the oven."

"Castle, I'm really not that hungry," Kate protests, plopping down in a chair at the kitchen table.

"Have you eaten anything all day?" he inquires, already knowing the answer.

"The bear claw you brought me. Coffee. An energy bar. I think that's about it."

He frowns, "You need to eat something."

"It's not good to eat right before you go to bed. Besides, my toothbrush is at home."

"I'm sure we have an extra somewhere."

"And I don't have pajamas."

"You can borrow a t-shirt from me or Alexis."

As Castle goes to look for pajamas and a toothbrush for her, Alexis serves dinner. "I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow night."

"I wasn't expecting to be here tonight. But your father insisted I come here so he had the peace of mind of knowing that I was not spending another night at the precinct. And now that I'm here, I'm not about to go home after what happened last time."

Alexis smiles as she sets a plate down in front of the detective. "So don't go home. You don't ever have to go home. This can be your home. Dad likes having you here. I like having you here. I know that you value your independence, Kate, but living with us isn't going to make anyone think that you're weak. Dad wants to take care of you, but he'll also give you space when you need it. He just wants you to be happy."

Kate studies the teenager, thinking over her words. Castle returns, taking his place between the two women, and picks up his fork, "Your things are on my bed."

Alexis pauses for a moment but decides that she would rather not comment; she did not need all the details of the relationship. "Did you guys have a difficult case?" she asks, deciding this would be a safer question.

"Not too difficult. All the evidence pointed to one person, but it took us a while to figure out the motive," he answers. He digs in, and it isn't until his third mouthful that he realizes that Kate hasn't touched her meal yet. "Kate?"

She is pulled out of her thoughts. "Sorry. Just tired," she picks up her fork to start eating. "So, Alexis, do you have plans this weekend?"

"I don't think so."

"I was thinking we could do self-defense lessons this weekend. I'll check with the boys and see if they're busy. Even if they are, I can probably manage."

"That'd be great. Well, as long as you don't hurt yourself."

"What about me?" Castle smiles.

"You'll have to wait for Ryan and Esposito."

He pouts, "I don't get to work with you?" She shakes her head. "What, you afraid of me?"

"No. I just think it'd be more beneficial for me to work with Alexis. Besides, I'm sure you'll require more lessons than she will. And if you really want to come, you can be the dummy for her to practice on."

"I thought that was what you were for."

She rolls her eyes, "I'm just the teacher."

"I wish you could be my teacher."

Kate narrows her eyes at him for a moment, warning him about starting anything with his daughter in the room. He watches her for a moment longer before turning back to his plate. They remain silent until Alexis stands up ten minutes later. "Well, I have a ton of homework to finish so I will see you guys in the morning." After putting her dishes in the sink, the teenager heads up to her room.

When they are both finished, Castle guides her to his room. She changes in his bathroom while he remains in the bedroom to change. Then they brush their teeth before climbing under the covers.

"You don't have to go to bed with me, Castle," she whispers as she curls up beside him.

"I don't know… you seem pretty attached to me."

"I am perfectly capable to finding another pillow, Castle."

"What? Are you telling me that I'm replaceable?"

"No… just as a pillow."

Rick smiles, "Good." A few moments later he returns to their earlier conversation. "So you really won't teach me self-defense?"

"No."

"No you won't or no I was wrong?"

She looks up at him and frowns. "No, I won't. Ryan and Esposito are just as good as I am. They can handle it. Besides, you can't hit a girl, Castle; you have to find someone else to practice with."

He pouts. "Please, Kate? Ryan and Esposito might hurt me."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because… they always make fun of me."

"Yeah, well you deserve it," she laughs.

"You're my girlfriend; you're supposed to stand up for me."

"Really? Because teasing you is so much easier."

"You know… maybe I will leave. Watch TV or write or something until you're asleep," he starts to shift underneath her.

"Go ahead," she moves to let him go. "Maybe then I'll actually be able to sleep."

He pauses at the edge of the bed, hoping she'd ask him to come back. When she doesn't, he sighs and lies back down beside her. "Or I'll just stay here with you."

"I don't care what you do as long as you shut up," she mumbles, turning over on her side and closing her eyes.

"Good night, Kate," he whispers as he curls up beside her, his chest pressed to her back.

"Night."

Rick closes his eyes, not able to stare at anything but the back of her head without moving, and tries to fall asleep. She pulls out of his arms a few minutes later, and he can't resist opening his eyes to see why she is moving. The detective has turned around to face him, but he is unable to read her expression. "You okay?" he asks softly.

"Rick… thank you. For taking care of me, for being there when I needed you, for knowing the right things to say and do. I know that I can be difficult at times, and I'm really glad that you never gave up on me. You're a great guy, Castle, and I'm thankful that I have you in my life," Kate kisses him softly.

"Kate, I should be the one thanking you. You very reluctantly let me follow you around on your job, and I somehow wheedled my way further into your life. Without you, I wouldn't be writing right now. And you're more than my inspiration, Kate; I'm honored that you trust me enough to let me in."

"Letting you in wasn't as hard as I made it seem," she rests her head on his shoulder as they lay back down to sleep.

**A/N: You guys will be very happy to know that I finished writing this story yesterday. And I just started a new Castle story, but I really have no idea where it's going to go. Although I never would have thought that this story would go as far as it did. And just so you know... I do have my homework done. Minus studying for midterms that are at the end of the week. But that's what Monday thru Thursday are for. Anyway... please review. If you do so, I may consider updating on Tuesday and then again on Friday (because I will be gone this weekend). If not you'll have to wait. And I think you'll really like the next chapter.**


	23. I Love You

**Chapter 23: I Love You**

"Do you, uh… want to come in?" Kate asks timidly as they stand outside her door after their date.

"As long as you don't mind, I'll come in."

"It's not like you haven't been here before," she turns to unlock the door.

"I've only been to your new place twice. And I didn't stay too long."

"Yes, well I'm sure it was plenty of time for you to snoop around."

He smiles as he pulls her into his arms and kisses her once they are inside her apartment. "I might have done some snooping…"

She smiles back, "Did it help your writing?"

"Not really."

"I'll just have to be more inspiring this time," she kisses him again before pulling away. "You want a drink?"

"I can get the drinks while you hide whatever you don't want me to know about. Like your collection of my books over there," he nods toward the shelf lined with his books.

"You seriously knew about that and never made a comment?"

"Yes. I saw them when I spent the night before your apartment was blown up. But I knew you were a fan during the first case. You knew too many details about the books, and only my biggest fans read those."

"I'm a big fan of more than just your books," she leans up to kiss him yet again, snaking her arms around his neck. One of his hands rests on her back while the other is in her hair. He reluctantly lets her pull away a few moments later, resting their foreheads together. "Was that more inspiring?" she whispers.

"You always inspire me, Kate," he replies, slowly unwrapping his arms from her. "I'll get the wine for us."

She frowns as he walks away from her, her arms dropping to her sides. After a minute, she follows him to the kitchen. He is opening all her cupboards looking for the wine glasses. Silently she opens the right one for him, a slight smile on her face. "You trying to snoop around again?"

"No. Just looking for glasses. And now I need the cork screw." She points to a drawer, and he retrieves the device. "So… you're doing okay here by yourself?" he asks somewhat timidly, hoping she wouldn't get angry with him for asking.

Kate takes a moment to think about how to answer, and before she speaks, she wraps her arms around his waist from behind as he pours their drinks. "I'm okay when I'm awake. But I still have nightmares about it."

He hands her a glass, careful to keep her arm around him. "It's only been a week since it happened. I'm sure they'll stop in a few days."

"Hopefully. Of course I've only been here by myself two nights."

"And how are you doing by yourself with your arm? Your cast looks a little rattier than it did when you were with us."

"I can manage. It's just hard to shower because I can't saran wrap it very well by myself."

Castle hesitates before speaking again, "I could… stay with you tonight if you wanted."

"You can't leave Alexis by herself all night, Rick."

"You think she's going to have a party and drink or stay up all night?"

"No… but it's a dangerous city. You should know that after following me around."

"Don't worry. I had her lock and bolt the door after I left and told her I'd call before I got home."

"Then you should probably get going so that she's not asleep when you call."

He sighs, "Kate, do you want me to stay?"

"I…" she is torn between wanting him to stay and wanting him to go home for his daughter's sake.

"I asked Alexis if she would mind if I stayed here tonight if you wanted me to. She said it didn't matter to her. If it makes you happy, I'll call her and make sure everything is fine before she goes to sleep," he tells her, seeing her uncertainty.

"Okay. I'll let you stay if you call Alexis. And tell her not to hesitate to call us if she needs anything. But don't think that you can get around me not staying at your place by you staying here every night," she warns.

He smiles, "I almost had you fooled."

"Did not. Now pull out that fancy phone of yours and call your daughter. I'm going to go change for bed."

"Can I watch?"

Kate frowns at him, "Most definitely not. Especially not while you're talking to your daughter."

Castle watches as she walks into her bedroom before pulling out his phone. Once he is certain Alexis is fine, he follows Kate to her bedroom, hoping she was covered up by now and wouldn't be angry with him. "Hey," he says softly as he enters.

She turns around to face him, "She's okay?"

"Yep."

"Well… I don't have any bottoms for you to wear but you can borrow a t-shirt from me."

"I can sleep in my boxers. Or we could forego the whole pajamas thing."

She rolls her eyes at him, but she can't help the smile. "If you want that to happen, you're going to need something stronger than wine."

"Or I could just let you drink the whole bottle yourself."

"You mean you don't have connections with drug dealers that could get you something to help you out with this?"

"No, you'll be happy to know, Detective, that I do not know any drug dealers."

"So we can go in the other room and I can finish our wine without worrying about you taking advantage of me?"

"Yes. Kate, if I really wanted it, I wouldn't have stopped you last week."

She wraps her arms around him, "You're a very confusing man, Richard Castle. You go around making all these innuendoes, and when I was actually going to give in to you, you stopped me."

"I want you to want this too. I want you to be ready for this. I don't want to push you into this otherwise you'll just pull away from me."

"I get that. But you don't always have to act like I'm fragile and could break at any second. You'll know when we've reached the limit."

"I'll try," he whispers before leaning in to kiss her. When he tries to pull away, she puts her hand on the back of his head, pulling him into her again, and this kiss is more passionate.

Eventually she does pull away, needing oxygen. "Rick…"

"It's okay, Kate. When it comes to you, I can be patient."

She smiles before kissing him again. As she runs her hands down his chest, he slides his hands under the hem of her shirt, resting them on her waist. She begins to undo the buttons of his shirt, and his shirt is almost halfway unbuttoned before he realizes what she is doing.

"Kate," he pulls his lips from hers. "Are you…?"

"I know what I'm doing, Rick."

"You're sure about this?"

"Just… let me try. I can't guarantee that we'll go all the way, but… I want to try."

"We can't go back if we do this, Kate."

She looks up to meet his eyes, "We can't go back to how things were before anyway, Rick."

He nods, knowing she is right. "I just… I don't want you to be angry with me or stop speaking to me if I let you do this. You mean too much to me."

"I won't, Rick. As long as you're still here in the morning. I don't want to be one of your conquests."

"Kate, you're so much more than that to me."

"You say that an awful lot, Rick."

"And I mean it."

Kate bites her lip hesitantly before whispering, "Show me."

Rick studies her for a moment, weighing his options carefully. As he looks into her green eyes, he can see everything she is feeling: love, passion, excitement, and even a little fear. Her willingness to let him into her world helps him decide. He gently presses his lips to hers, telling her with his kiss that he would do exactly what she wanted, even if it meant stopping.

She finishes unbuttoning his shirt and pushes it off of his shoulders before backing him against the wall. He lets her have a few moments of control before he flips them so that she is the one against the wall. As he does so, he breaks the kiss; he brushes her hair out of the way before he places his lips on her neck. She tilts her head to allow him access, her hands resting on his chest.

She is perfectly content with letting him take control, but when they haven't really progressed further five minutes later, she decides to take action. "Castle?" she nudges him gently, bringing his eyes back up to meet hers.

"You want me to stop?" he asks slowly.

"No…" she gives him a small smile. "Just wanted to let you know that the bed is over there."

"I know. I'm just trying to give you time to get used to this. And to back out if you want."

"I'm not backing out, Rick."

"You're not?"

Kate gently pushes him away so that she could get out from between him and the wall. As she walks to the bed, she pulls the t-shirt that she had put on earlier over her head. "Does it look like I am?"

He swallows, "Kate… I know this is kind of clichéd with us but… you are extraordinary."

"How very Castle of you," she smiles. "Making judgments before all the evidence is in…"

"Was that an invitation to take the rest of your clothes off, Detective?" he approaches the bed and sinks down onto it next to her.

She shrugs nonchalantly, giving him the mischievous look that he always dreamed about. "Guess you have a mystery to solve."

"This case is so much better than the ones you have to solve," Rick leans in to kiss her.

When he tries to deepen it, she pulls back. "Rick…"

"Are you regretting this decision?"

"No," she quickly assures him. "I… have something to tell you."

He patiently waits for her to continue, resting his hand on hers to reassure her that everything would be fine between them.

After a moment, Kate looks up to meet his eyes. "I love you, Rick."

Castle smiles, "I love you too, Kate."

**A/N: So I got bored with studying for my biology midterm and decided to update. But I should really get back to studying. Especially since I haven't even begun to study for Western Civ. Thanks for all of the reviews. I was too lazy to reply again. But maybe if you review for this chapter I'll reply tomorrow afternoon when I have nothing better to do (except study). This was originally how I was going to end the story, but I thought you'd be a little mad since there are some events I forgot to include. So they're included in the next five chapters.**


	24. Self Defense

**Chapter 24: Self-Defense**

Kate slowly opens her eyes. Not feeling his body near hers, she turns over to see if he had moved away from her while sleeping. He isn't there. Frowning, she sits up, careful to keep the sheet over her body. His side of the bed is cold, and his clothes no longer litter the floor of her bedroom. She quickly gets out of the bed, dressing in her pajamas that were scattered on the floor. Willing herself to believe that he had not run off without good reason, she heads out of her bedroom.

When she reaches the kitchen, she freezes. He is cooking breakfast, his back turned to her. She smiles to herself and approaches him, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "I thought I told you not to leave me."

"I didn't want to. But we have to go to work. I thought I'd make you breakfast for when you woke up. I was going to leave you a note."

She nods, "That's nice. But I think I would have preferred waking up with you next to me."

"I'll remember that next time."

Kate kisses his cheek, and he turns his head so that she can kiss his lips. "Castle?"

"Yes?" he turns the burner off before focusing on her.

"Last night was…"

"A mistake?" he finishes, looking away from her.

"Hm… I was actually thinking of borrowing your word, extraordinary. But if mistake is the word you want to use…"

"So you're not going to ignore me and pretend like this never happened?"

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. Because you tend to avoid dealing with your emotions."

"This is different. I like my emotions when it comes to you. Well… most of them," she gives him a small smile.

"The frustration or the annoyance?" he returns her smile.

Rolling her eyes, she changes the subject. "You talk to Alexis this morning?"

"She texted me before she left for school."

"I guess she's okay then. Tell her I'll call her later about self-defense lessons."

"Can't you text her?"

"I don't have her number."

"Oh… we should do something about that. Hey," he pauses to turn and face her again. "Call her? You aren't going to come over later?"

"Probably not."

"Did you become psychic and see that we'll be busy with a case all night, or do you just not want to come over?"

"The second. And it's nothing you did." He opens his mouth to speak, but she interrupts him. "No, you can't stay tonight." Rick shuts his mouth, pouting. "That's very unattractive, Castle."

Slowly his frown turns into a smile. "Did you just call me attractive?"

"No," she pats his cheek as he places a plate in front of her. "Pouting just makes you more unattractive."

"After all the compliments I give you, you can't give me just one?"

"Yes, well you have a very limited vocabulary."

"What about tomorrow?" he abruptly changes the subject. She frowns at him, not sure what he was talking about. "If you won't stay at my place tonight, what about tomorrow?"

Kate thinks for a moment. "Sure. But remember that you have a daughter."

"I can always make her go to one of her friends' places for the night. Or weekend."

"No, Castle. And we're not coming here and leaving her all alone either."

"You are a very difficult woman, Kate."

"You're just now figuring this out after almost two years together?"

"Don't you mean two weeks?"

"We've been partners for two years practically."

"Two of the best years of my life."

"Really? I wouldn't have thought chasing me around would be fun for you."

"Actually, I really enjoy spending time with you. I have since we first met. You're just so fascinating to me. And the chase was definitely worth it."

**CB**

Kate smiles, "You're doing good."

"Really? I don't know about this," Alexis looks unsure of herself as she blocks Kate's punch.

"See? You're getting the hang of it."

"You're going easy on me. Anyone who tries to attack me won't do that."

"We have to start with the basics. Ryan, come over here." The detective looks at his partner with loathing before walking over to his boss. "I assume you know what your first target should be on a male attacker." She nods. "Other vulnerable spots include the knees. If you're in front of the attacker, kicking the knee cap could break it and will at the very least slow your opponent down. If you're behind him, kicking him in the back of the knee will most likely cause him to fall forward onto his knees." The female detective demonstrates the kicks for the teenager. "If you have heels on, kicking in the shin could help."

Alexis nods in understanding. "Can we practice? I mean, I don't want to hurt any of you so I understand if we can't but…"

"Yeah, we can practice on one of the bags."

Esposito holds the bag as Kate demonstrates some kicks for Alexis to try. She watches as the teenager attempts the moves, giving her pointers.

After a few minutes, Castle returns from his breakfast run and comes to stand next to her. "She learns fast."

Kate nods, "She's getting there."

"When is it going to be my turn?"

"You want a turn?" she smiles at him, taking the bag of doughnuts and tray of coffees from him.

"Yes."

She sets the food and drinks down before bringing him over to the mat, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Lesson number one: don't ask for your turn; you'll always regret it."

Before his brain even processes her movement, he is on his back. "That was not very nice."

"You asked for it," she shrugs, then offers him a hand.

He hesitates before he takes it, worried that she's going to do some other fancy moves on him. He takes the opportunity to knock her feet out from under her once he has a hold of her hand. "How could you fall for that, Detective?"

She glares at him as she sits up, "You really want to play that game, Castle? Because there are so many ways that I can hurt you." Kate leans in to whisper in his ear, "And some of them aren't very appropriate in front of your daughter."

He swallows, "I'm sorry for knocking you down."

Alexis and the two detectives come over to join them for doughnuts and coffee. Afterwards, the boys leave, and Castle watches as Kate goes over a few more things with Alexis. The teenager looks timidly over at her father, "Kate?"

"Yes?"

"I was wonder if maybe… you'd teach me how to shoot a gun. In case the situation ever arose where I needed to."

She sighs, "Have you and your father talked about this?"

"Not really."

"I know you're technically an adult now, Alexis, but I want you to ask your dad first."

"Okay." The teenager walks over to her father, and Kate slowly wanders over to them, giving them a little time to talk.

"Are you sure about this?" Castle asks his daughter.

"Yes. I hope I never have to actually shoot a gun, but I want to know how to in case I ever have to. I don't want you or Gram or Kate or one of my friends to get hurt because I don't know how to shoot."

"Nobody's going to get hurt, Alexis. No one is after Gram or me or any of your friends. And Kate… well, you will probably never be around when someone is threatening her."

"But I was there, Dad. He would have killed her if I hadn't come in with that gun. And if I would have shot him, it could've ended. She wouldn't have had to go through all of that if I had shot him."

Kate meets Rick's eyes over Alexis's shoulder, letting him know that she would talk to her. "Alexis?"

The red-head turns around, not realizing that the detective was right behind her. "Kate, I know you don't blame me for this but I just feel like part of it is my fault."

"It's not, Alexis. You did way more than I expected you to do that day, and I'm grateful for that. But taking someone's life has major consequences, even if it's in self-defense. I messed up that day, and it's thanks to you that I made it out of there alive. If we went through that situation a hundred times, every single time I would rather have him escape than for you to shoot him. I would rather have to deal with that burden myself than to have you go through it."

Alexis hugs Kate impulsively. "Thank you," she whispers. "I mean… I don't want you to have to deal with taking people's lives, but I'm sure that you can cope with it a lot better than I ever could."

Castle watches his two women embrace, smiling to himself. When they turn their attention back to him, he grins. "Maybe I should start carrying a gun for protection."

"No," Beckett immediately shoots the idea down.

"Why not?" he whines.

"One, I'm not dealing with the paperwork every time you shoot someone. Two, I'd be responsible every time you shot someone, and Internal Affairs would probably take my badge away. Three, you can't aim; one of the good guys would probably be the one that got shot."

"But you gave me your backup when we went in the warehouse after Dunn."

"Because you were the only one left."

"You trusted me then."

"And I still trust you. Just not with a loaded gun."

**A/N: Totally forgot to update yesterday so here you go. Have to leave for Canada soon so hope you enjoy this. More next Tuesday or Wednesday.**


	25. Shot in the Heart

**Chapter 25: Shot in the Heart**

Rick rushes into the precinct, practically jogging over to the Beckett's desk and the murder board, which she is currently staring at. "I know who did it," he says as he stops in front of her.

She focuses on him, "Who?"

"The neighbor."

When he does not expand on this idea, she questions him. "And what makes you think it was the neighbor? What motive does he have?"

He explains his theory, and she patiently listens to him, having realized long ago that some of his conjectures ended up being correct. "So can we go arrest him?" he asks after he finishes explaining.

"I don't think we have enough for a warrant, Castle."

"I can call my poker buddy judge; I'm sure he'd be willing to sign a warrant for you."

"Castle, you can't do that. Warrants were invented for a reason. You can't use your friends to bypass the justice system."

"I've done it before."

She sighs, "Well I'm not going to let you do it again. We'll find enough evidence for a warrant soon."

Ryan and Esposito come over to the murder board. "Guess who has motive?"

"The neighbor," Castle says before she can ask who.

"How did you know?" Esposito asks. "Did you become psychic like Lanie?"

"No. Just writer's intuition."

Beckett glares at him for a moment before turning back to her detectives. "Have you gotten a warrant?"

"It's being signed as we speak. We can pick it up on the way and meet you there."

**CB**

"Put the gun down, Mr. Anderson," Detective Beckett calmly tells him. "It will be a lot easier for you if you cooperate with us."

"I'm not going to jail."

"If you didn't want to go to jail, you shouldn't have killed your neighbor," Castle says.

Anderson moves his gun to point at the writer. "Shut up," he yells at the same time as Beckett tells him the same thing.

"Mr. Anderson, put the gun down," Beckett demands, desperation seeping into her voice now that Rick is in danger. "I will shoot if that gun is not on the floor in five seconds."

"You shoot me, I shoot him. You don't want that, do you?"

Out of her peripheral vision, she can see Ryan and Esposito trying to get closer to him from the sides. "One," she cautiously takes a step forward, trying to move in the path between him and her partner. "Two."

"Stop moving," he demands, quickly aiming his gun at her. "Tom deserved what he got. And if you try to put me in jail for that, I'll kill you too."

Somehow she finds that the gun pointing at her is less scary than it pointing at Castle. "Three," she tries to take another step, but the gun instantaneously aims at Castle. "Four."

The word barely leaves her mouth before he shoots. The bullet flies past her shoulder and penetrates Castle's 'writer' vest. A second later she fires her own gun, the bullet hitting him square in the chest. She lets Ryan and Esposito handle him while she turns to Castle, trying not to panic. "Rick?"

"I'm okay," he assures her.

Kate holsters her gun as she approaches him, studying the bullet hole in his vest directly over his heart. "Take your vest off."

He quickly complies, feeling pain when he moves his body. She gasps at the blood stain on his shirt, and when her detective instincts return, she tries to cover the wound to slow the bleeding. "It's okay," he repeats, holding his vest up to show her the bullet still embedded in it. "It's just a flesh wound."

She unbuttons part of his shirt, trying to see the wound better. "It's not too deep. It'll probably hurt for a few days, but it should heal okay," she informs him as she presses on the wound.

"My first battle scar," he gives her a small smile in an attempt to cheer her up, but she doesn't react. "Pretty soon I'll have as many as you."

"How bad is it?" Esposito asks, coming up beside the couple.

"Just a flesh wound," Castle says as Beckett lifts her hands for him to see it.

"You're a lucky dude. That vest saved your life."

"How's Anderson?" she asks.

The detective gives a slight shake of the head, "Hell of a shot. Identical location as Castle's, but he wasn't so lucky. We've called for an ambulance and for the morgue van."

She nods once in understanding before turning her attention back to Castle. When she applies pressure to his wound again, he winces, "Ow."

"Battle wounds aren't as fun as you seem to think they are."

"What isn't fun about this? Now I can show everyone how I defeated death. Poker buddies, fans, Alexis. I'll even have the cool scar above my heart to prove it, won't I?"

Kate looks away from him, thinking about what could have happened, how she could have had to tell a daughter that her father had been killed. It had been her job to protect him, and she had failed, even if he was still alive and annoying her. "This isn't funny, Castle. You were this close to dying," she holds her thumb and index finger a centimeter apart in front of his face.

"But I'm fine. I have to order myself another one of those vests."

She glares at him, unsure how he could not get how serious the situation was. As the paramedics enter, she stalks away, leaving them to fix him up. While they do that, she gives her statement to the detectives investigating the shooting. Montgomery calls her and tells her to take the rest of the day off even though it is still relatively early in the afternoon as the writer gives the detectives his version of the shooting.

**CB**

Alexis opens the door and enters the apartment. She spots Kate in the living room, curled up in one of the chairs with a cup of hot tea. "Hi," the teenager smiles, oblivious to the events of the day. She sets her book bag down on the couch, "Isn't it kind of early for you to be off work?"

Kate doesn't respond, focusing on the steaming liquid in her cup as she remains deep in thought.

"What's wrong, Detective Beckett?" Alexis takes in the melancholy look on the detective's face before realizing that her father was no where in sight. This combined with the detective's gloom suddenly frightens her. "Kate, where's my dad?"

"He's fine," Kate finally looks up at the teenager. "He's in his office writing."

"Did you have a bad case today?"

She hesitates before answering, "Kind of. Alexis… I need to talk to you. I know your dad probably won't be too happy with me for breaking the news to you but… I think this is something that I need to be the one to tell you about."

"Kate, what's wrong?" the red-head repeats.

"Your dad… was shot today when we were trying to arrest our suspect."

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine. It's just a flesh wound. The bullet was lodged in his vest. Of course he thinks this is all a big joke and wants to go around bragging about his battle scar."

"So there's nothing wrong with him?"

"He's in a little pain, but other than that there's nothing wrong with him that wasn't wrong this morning."

A tear of relief runs down the teenager's cheek, and Kate has to fight to keep her own tears back. "Why did he shoot my dad?"

"He was trying to avoid arrest. I was pressuring him to put his weapon down, but he didn't listen."

"Is he in jail now?"

"No… he's gone." The detective gives the girl a moment to let this all sink in while she tries to think of what to say to her. "Alexis, I'm really sorry about this. I know that it's my job to protect your father. I should have stayed in front of him or made him wait in the car until the suspect was apprehended."

"Kate," Alexis slowly approaches the detective and wraps her arms around her. "What happened wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for this, and I'm sure he doesn't either."

Kate slowly puts her arms around the girl, "I'd understand if you didn't want me around anymore."

"Are you kidding? The fact that you told me all of this shows me that you not only care about Dad but me too. All that matters is that he's still alive."

"Thank you, Alexis," the detective says, a tear escaping and trailing down her cheek.

Castle comes out of his office and, upon seeing the embrace, asks, "Did someone forget to invite me to this party?"

"Dad," Alexis yells, running over to him to embrace him.

He tries to hide his wince as she hugs him. With a smile, he puts his arms around his daughter, grateful to have this time with her. "I take it Kate told you about what happened."

"Yes."

"I'd show you my wound but it's all bandaged up."

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Can we play laser tag tonight? With Detective Beckett?"

"Sure, if she'll join us. And don't think that this minor injury is going to hold me back. But don't you have tests to study for? Normally you have a lot of tests on the last day of school before Thanksgiving."

"I only have two. I'll go study now so that we can play later." Alexis turns to Kate, "You will play with us, won't you?"

Kate bites her lips before answering, "Okay."

"Good," the teenager smiles. "I'm really glad you're both okay."

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry for not updating sooner; I've kind of felt a little overwhelmed with stuff since we got back from Montreal. I decided to update before trying to figure out acid-base reactions for chemistry... fun stuff. About last chapter, it wasn't that Castle isn't a good shooter; Kate just doesn't want him to have a gun because she'd have to deal with the paperwork if he shot someone and she doesn't want him to have kill people 'cause that's supposed to be her job. Anyway, three chapters to go. **


	26. Compromise

**Chapter 26: Compromise**

After their game of laser tag, the two adults stand silently across the room from each other as Alexis ascends the stairs for bed. Rick studies her, taking in her sullen look, before he whispers, "I'm sorry, Kate."

"This wasn't your fault," she looks up to meet his gaze.

"It wasn't yours either."

"You could have died today, Rick. Any slight change in the situation, and Alexis might not have had a father when she got home from school."

"I'm still here, Kate. I'm not going anywhere."

"You don't know that. You _can't_ know that."

"When Hallirook first attacked you, you told me not to dwell on what could have happened in different situations. I need you to do the same."

"Rick, you don't seem to grasp the danger of the situation you were in. You joke about it like getting shot is no big deal. It is a big deal. Instead of playing laser tag tonight, I could have been telling Martha and Alexis that you had been shot while we tried to apprehend a suspect. And they would probably hate me for letting you go in there, for not protecting you."

"Kate –"

"And the press," she cuts him off. "What would they think of me if I let Richard Castle die? Just think of the headlines they would come up with. They'd be following me around and asking questions and… What would your fans think of me, Castle? They'd be angry, and they'd start following me and asking questions. Questions that I wouldn't want to deal with."

"Please, Kate, just –" he tries again, only for her to cut him off once more.

"And on top of that, I'd probably lose my job too. All your friends in high places would make sure I was fired because they lost their poker buddy. What would I do with myself if I couldn't be a detective?"

He opens his mouth to speak as he reaches out to her, but she backs away from his touch. "Lis–"

"Did you ever think about what I would be going through if you died? The pain that I would have to go through without you there to help? And the guilt that I would feel after you died at my take down?" She pauses to take a breath, and a tear fall down her cheek. "I just wish you wouldn't joke about things like this, Rick. I know I haven't really told you how much you mean to me, but you're it. You're my one and done."

Castle opens his arms to her, and she graciously accepts his hug, burying his face in her hair while she cries into his shoulder, her fists buried in his shirt to keep him with her. "I'm sorry," he repeats, kissing the top of her head.

After five minutes, she pulls away from him and wipes her eyes to get rid of the tears. "I think we need to talk, Rick."

"Okay," he agrees, not quite sure what she wanted to talk about, but willing to listen if she wanted to open up to him. He leads her to the couch and sits down. His worry increases when she sits a couple feet from him instead of right next to him.

"Castle… I want you to stop shadowing me," Kate says, looking him in the eye.

"Why?" He is unable to get anything else out after her shocking request.

"You've been following me for almost two years; I'm sure you have enough inspiration for half a dozen more books. And now that we're together, you don't have to hang around the precinct to try to win me over."

"Kate, it wasn't just about trying to win you over. I like spending time with you. And I like Ryan and Esposito and Lanie and Montgomery and everyone else. I like solving cases with you guys. It makes me feel useful, like I'm actually doing some good in the world instead of just writing about the evil."

"Please, Rick. It's a win-win situation. You have more time to write without the distractions, and I don't have to worry about something happening to you on the job. You are put in danger in my world far more than I am put in danger in yours."

"Kate," he sighs. He knows she is right to ask him to stop following her, but he doesn't want to, even though it doesn't mean the end of their relationship.

"You said that you would be writing if you weren't following me around. So write, Castle. You're good at it."

"I don't know if I can write Nikki Heat if I'm not around you all the time," he honestly responds. Silence envelops them as they both become deep in thought. Suddenly he recalls something she had said that night. "You said that I keep your job light, Kate. If I'm not there, you'll lose that."

"I still have you at home."

"But… please, Kate. Don't make me do this."

"This isn't about me, Castle. It's about your daughter too. Do you want to see her graduate in six months? Do you want to see her walk down the aisle on her wedding day?"

Rick looks into her green eyes, "Okay, Kate. It's over. I won't follow you anymore."

"Thank you," she whispers, scooting closer to rest her head on his shoulder.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You keep talking about how dangerous your job is, and I don't want to lose you either, Kate."

She sits up abruptly, "Are you seriously asking me to quit my job, Castle? Because I will not do that."

"I don't want anything to happen to you, Kate. I'd be a zombie without you, living but not feeling anything. And what would happen to Alexis if that happened?"

"No. Don't turn this around on me, Castle. I didn't ask you to quit your job for me."

"Kate."

"I can't quit, Rick. You know that."

"Why not?" he asks, watching her. "I make plenty of money for both of us."

"What would I do with myself all day long, Castle?"

"I can think of plenty of things you could do," he smiles, but it quickly disappears when he sees her glare. "You would find something to do."

"I can't quit," she repeats.

"Is this because of your mother's case?"

"It's not just that," Kate looks into his eyes. "What about all of those other people that need justice? Why should I sit here and bask in your wealth when I could be helping them? Being a detective is part of who I am, and I can't change that."

"But you're asking me to change who I am."

"I didn't ask you to stop writing. You're a mystery writer, Castle, not a detective."

"But I have changed for you."

"Yes, and I'm grateful that you love me enough to make those changes. But this is who I am. You fell in love with me because I'm a detective. Every reason you list has to do with seeing me as a detective. Those things you changed were behaviors; they weren't really who you are but acts that you put up for the public's sake."

"I don't love you because you're a detective, Kate. I fell in love with you because of the characteristics I saw you display as a detective on a daily basis."

"I'm not quitting. You're just going to have to accept it, Castle."

"If you won't quit, I'm still going to shadow you."

"Please, Rick."

"Let's make a deal," he offers. She frowns but doesn't comment. "Three days. I'll go in three days a week and shadow you. And I'll listen to every direction you give me; I'll wait in the car until you clear a scene or have your suspect in handcuffs."

"What do you get out of it? Am I only supposed to work three days a week?"

"No. I want you to stay here. At least four nights a week. I won't pressure you into anything; I just want to have you next to me, to know that you're okay."

"Two days. I'll stay here four nights if you only go to the precinct two days."

"I pick which two days."

"Okay. But as soon as you step out of that car before I tell you that you can the deal is off."

"Alright," he holds out his hand, and she hesitates before shaking it.

Once he lets go of her hand, she places it over his wound, careful not to cause him too much pain. "Rick…" The tears well up in her eyes again.

He takes her cast in his hand, studying the fresh blood stain on it from earlier that day. "I guess we've both been lucky these past few weeks," he whispers, resting his forehead against hers.

She closes the gap between their lips, "I love you."

"I love you too." As they kiss, he puts his arms around her, pulling her closer, assuring himself that they are both very much alive. When she starts to unbutton his shirt, he pulls away slightly to whisper, "Maybe we should take this elsewhere."

**A/N: I actually remembered to update today. I will try to reply to reviews this time, but I seem to have a lot of homework to do. Although I was seriously contemplating watching an episode of Castle to get a break from reading... Anyway, two chapters left. Please review.**


	27. Thanksgiving

**Chapter 27: Thanksgiving**

Alexis rushes to the door, trying not to panic. "Thank God," she says with relief upon seeing Kate on the other side.

"Something wrong?"

"I thought that your dad was here already. And dinner's not done and I still have to change and Dad's in the shower and you weren't here yet," she rambles on.

Kate smiles at the teenager, "You really don't have to be so worried."

Alexis closes the door behind Kate, "Dad gave you a key, right?" The detective nods. "Then you don't have to knock."

"I don't want to just barge in on you guys."

"Kate, you practically live here. You spend more time here than at your own apartment."

"Anyway," Kate sets the pies down on the counter, "my keys are in the bottom of my purse, and I couldn't exactly dig them out while holding the pies."

"I forgive you."

"It sounds like you still have a lot to do; what can I do to help?"

"Well… first you go calm Dad down because his nervousness is making me stress out about this. Then the two of you can set the table."

Kate puts her arm around the teenager, "Don't worry; everything will be okay. And thank you so much for this, Alexis."

"No problem," she smiles.

The detective wanders off down the hall to Castle's bedroom. She finds him in his closet, dressed only in his boxers and staring at his clothes. When he turns to face her, she smiles, "Can't decide?"

"No."

She wraps her arms around him from behind, pressing his back to her chest. "Just wear jeans and one of your dress shirts."

"Will you pick one out for me?" he asks, tilting his head to look at her.

"Blue."

"You're going to have to be more specific than that, Kate. Blue is the most abundant color that I have."

She sighs and lets go of him to pick out a shirt. After a few moments, she hands him a navy blue button-down shirt. "Is it really that hard to decide?"

He takes the shirt and puts it on, "Yes. I don't want to mess this up. I haven't done this meet the parents thing since before Gina and I got married. What are we going to do if he doesn't like me?"

"Rick, he will like you. You're only the second guy he's meeting, besides all of the guys from high school that they had to meet before I went out with them. Just… avoid all of your innuendos for the day, and things will be okay."

"I don't know, Kate. He hasn't seen you since the attack," he gestures to her cast. "Maybe he'll hate me because I let that happen to you."

"Castle, how many times do I have to tell you that it isn't your fault?"

"If I was your father and Alexis was you, I'd still be angry with me."

She smiles, "All he wants is for me to be happy. You make me happy, Rick. Just be yourself, the man you are with me and with Alexis. Not the man you pretend to be for the media and the public."

"Thank you, Kate," he kisses her softly. "We should probably go help Alexis. She's done a lot of the cooking this morning."

"We'll have to do something to thank her." When she tries to walk away from him, he grabs her wrist, the one in the cast. She frowns, turning back to him, and is about to ask him what was wrong when she notices that he is staring at her cast. "Rick," she places her good hand on his check, "please don't make us go through this again."

"We're going to the hospital tomorrow."

Her frown deepens, "Isn't your bullet wound healing? Because if something's wrong, we should go to the hospital now. Dad will understand."

"Not for me. For you."

"Rick… there's nothing wrong with me."

"You need a new cast."

She follows his gaze, studying her cast. "I don't think they give new casts just because there's blood on the old one."

"They will."

"Castle."

"I know a guy that works at the hospital. Besides they can't possibly make you stare at the bloodstains for the next six weeks until your wrist heals, especially not when they hear the story behind them."

"They don't need to waste their supplies and time on me when there are plenty of other injured people out there."

"For me, Kate? Please?" he smiles.

She can't resist, "You probably should have thought of this before now. I'm sure all this blood won't help things with my dad."

Rick's smile fades, "But you said…"

"Don't worry. Compared to crazy fans and madmen with guns meeting my father should be a piece of cake for you," she kisses his cheek before turning to go help Alexis in the kitchen.

Alexis, however, is standing in the doorway, wondering what was taking the two adults so long. "If the two of you are done making out in here, I need some help in the kitchen."

He takes her hand in his as they follow the teenager to the kitchen. "Alexis, help Kate set the table and then go upstairs and change. I'll work on the turkey."

Fifteen minutes later the two Castles are getting all of the dishes ready to serve while Kate watches, unable to do much with one hand. There is a knock on the door, and the three look at each other. "I'll finish up here," Alexis offers.

Kate and Rick smile at her in thanks before heading to the door. She opens it while Rick stands behind her, waiting for her to introduce him. "Hi, Dad," she smiles and hugs him.

"Katie," Jim Beckett returns her smile. When they pull apart, he studies her. "I guess it's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"I'm okay," she assures him. "If I'm lucky the cast will be off before Christmas."

He looks down at her cast and frowns. "Is that…?"

"Yes. Not mine."

Understanding from her lack of detail, he nods, "Thank goodness."

"Dad, I want you to meet Rick Castle," Kate steps back to introduce the two men.

Castle extends his hand, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Beckett."

"Please call me Jim," he shakes the writer's hand. "Kate tells me you have a daughter."

"Yes, she's actually in the kitchen now finishing up our meal; she did most of the cooking."

"Dad," Alexis pokes her head out of the kitchen to talk to him. "What did you do with the cranberry sauce?"

"Cranberry sauce?" he frowns. "I…"

"Did you not check your list before you paid for the groceries?"

"I skimmed it. To make sure I had the important stuff… like the turkey and potatoes and… whipped cream for the pies."

"It's okay," Kate assures him, placing a hand on his arm. "We can survive without cranberries."

"Dinner is ready," Alexis informs them, stepping closer to the group.

"Alexis, this is my dad. Dad, meet Alexis," she introduces them.

Alexis offers her hand, unsure how else to greet him, "It's nice to meet you."

"They told me that you're the one that cooked dinner for us."

"Yes."

"Well, thank you very much. I'm sure it will be delicious with or without the cranberries."

They all move into the kitchen and take their seats at the table. Once they are seated, Rick looks toward Kate, not sure if they should say grace and give thanks before eating. He liked to pride himself about how much he knew about her, but in the area of religion, he knew nothing.

"I will volunteer to say grace unless someone else wants to," Jim offers.

"Go ahead," Kate says, bowing her head. They used to attend church regularly, but since her mother's death, neither of them had gone to a church service. As far as she knew, Castle and his daughter weren't particularly religious.

They all bow their heads, and Jim Beckett quickly says grace. Then they dig into the turkey and accompanying dishes, light conversation present throughout the meal. It continues when they are too full to move.

Eventually Rick stands, "Do you want to watch the football game?"

"Sure," her father stands and follows the writer into the living room.

Kate looks across the table at Alexis, "You're father likes football?"

"Not particularly. He only watches it when there are other guys around. You can go join them if you want; I can handle the dishes."

"No, I'll help you. After all you did the cooking. And it was delicious."

"Thank you. And I'm sorry about the cranberries; I know I put them on the list."

"It's not your fault," Kate smiles, putting an arm around the teenager. "And think of it this way: at least he didn't forget the turkey."

**CB**

"Rick, I can tell that she really cares about you."

"Yes. I'm very grateful that she's let me in to her life."

"I don't think I've seen her this happy since before…" he trails off, but Castle knows what he meant. "Just… please don't hurt her, Rick. I don't want to see her devastated again."

"I won't, Sir. You're daughter is very important to me, and I don't want to lose her."

"And… can you at least try to keep your crazy fans away from her?" he says with a hint of a smile on his face.

"I'll do my best. I don't like to see her hurt either."

He nods, "So… how on earth did this happen? When you first started following her, she would always talk about how frustrating you were. And now you're in a serious relationship."

"I honestly don't know. I mean I've been fascinated with her since the beginning, but she's always tried to shut me out. Little by little she's let me in, but I never actually thought that she would ever return my feelings."

"And the whole Nikki Heat thing… She's okay with that?"

"She definitely wasn't at first, and she still isn't exactly fond of the idea, but she's accepted it. I'm going to try to keep her out of the publicity as much as possible; I know she hates that sort of thing."

"How many books are you going to write about her?"

"I don't know. The third is almost done. I've got the fourth outlined so I can start it as soon as I finish this one, and I've got plans for the fifth one. After that, I don't know. It will depend partly on sales and partly on what she wants."

"You ever get the feeling someone's talking about you?" Alexis asks Kate as they enter the room.

Kate smiles as she takes a seat in between her father and Castle on the couch. Both men fall silent, pretending to watch the game. A few minutes later, she notices that her father is staring at her cast. "I would… let you sign it, but someone," she glances at Castle, "is going to try to connive the doctors at the hospital into putting a new cast on tomorrow." He nods, content with her answer.

When the game is over, they have pie. Shortly after that her father decides to head home. "Thank you for inviting me," he shakes Castle's hand again.

"My pleasure."

Kate walks with him down the hall to the elevator. "So?" she prompts when he doesn't say anything.

"I like him, Katie. I can see that he cares about you and that he's willing to do almost anything for you. He's… more like the guys you dated before… your mother passed away. He makes you smile, and… it's nice to see that."

"I wish Mom was here to meet him. But if she was, I probably never would have met him."

"She would like him," he assures her. "Just… don't be too hard on him, Katie."

They hug before he steps onto the elevator, "Thanks, Dad."

**A/N: I was lazy and didn't feel like replying to reviews. Plus I thought you'd rather have a new chapter. Only one more to go. So sad... I really should go study my medical terms for this exam I have to take for my pharmacy class... but I don't feel like it. Maybe tomorrow. Or I could study for that wonderful chemistry quiz on redox reactions. Not so fun. Or I could go to bed since I got up early for chem lab this morning and have to get up early for bio lab tomorrow. Definitely not a fan of eight am labs. And sadly the only chem lab that fit with band next quarter is at eight am. And that'll probably be the case in spring too. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this penultimate chapter. I haven't really gotten much writing done so after I post the last chapter it may be a while before you get another story.**


	28. Surprises

**Chapter 28: Surprises**

Alexis is flipping through channels when Kate comes back in. "Where's your father?" the detective asks, looking around.

"He went to his office. Said something about writing."

"Thanks," she heads to the office, entering quietly.

"So?" Rick prompts when she enters.

"So what?"

"What did he say?"

"He likes you."

"Really?"

She smiles, "So what were you two talking about while we did the dishes?"

"Nothing."

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"No. But you don't need to know what was said."

"Okay. Then you can sleep on the couch tonight."

"Kate, that's not fair," he whines.

"Then start talking."

"You'll let me take you to the hospital to get a new cast tomorrow?"

She sighs, "Sure, Castle."

"And you'll let me write on it?"

"As long as you don't put anything dirty on it."

"We talked about Nikki Heat. And how we ended up together. And… he asked me not to hurt you."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"So what are you up to?" she asks, coming around the desk to look at his computer. He quickly shuts the laptop to keep her from seeing his screen. "Castle, were you looking at naked women again?"

"No."

"Then why don't you want me to see what you're doing?"

"I was writing. I have two chapters left, and I know how to end the book. I want to surprise you."

"I don't like surprises."

"I know. But you like to surprise me so I thought I'd return the favor."

"Rick," she glares at him. He doesn't flinch. "Am I going to like this?"

"I hope you do."

"You're not actually stupid enough to try to propose to me in your book, are you?"

"…No."

"Good. Because it's too soon."

"I know that. But maybe in the future…"

"No. If you propose, you do it like a normal guy."

"But… I'm a writer. I'm paid to be creative. You can't just limit me like that."

"Sure I can," she puts her arms around his neck and kisses his cheek. "But you might want to take notice that I did not specify when and where. Just… not soon."

"For you, I think I can attempt to do traditional."

"So about this surprise…"

He pulls a thick packet of papers from his desk drawer. "Here's the first part of the book. You probably want to start with that."

"Who's read it so far?" she asks as she accepts the papers.

"Gina's only gotten that much so far. Alexis has edited a few more chapters than that for me. But I want you to be the first to read the end."

"Because it's personal or because you don't know how I'm going to feel about whatever you write being published for the whole world to read?"

"Kind of both."

"So I get to veto it if I want to?"

"Yes," he says slowly. "I really hope you don't because then I have to think of another ending. But… since we're now together, I want you to be comfortable with what's in the books, what the fans read. So if what I write is too personal, I'll change it for you."

"Why now? Why not before when we were just partners?"

"First of all because you never would have approved of page one hundred and five. Second, I value the trust you place in me. I like being the only person who really knows you. The fans may come to know Nikki Heat well, but I want to keep them from knowing you, from knowing every little detail about you. I value everything you tell me, and I don't want to hurt you by putting too much of you out there for the fans instead of putting Nikki out there."

Kate smiles, this time kissing him on the lips. "Thank you, Rick. I guess I should get reading."

"And I should start writing." He watches her head to the door before stopping her, not wanting her to leave him. "You could… stay in here and read," he nods to the couch in his office.

"I don't want to distract you from your work," she smirks, knowing how easily he gets distracted in her presence.

"Right," he sighs.

"I'll be out on the couch with Alexis."

**CB**

Kate looks up, glaring at him. "You don't like it?" he asks.

"I didn't say that."

"You implied it with that look."

"No, I was glaring at you because you were staring. Again. It's kind of hard to concentrate with you staring at me."

"So you don't hate it?"

"No."

"Can I sign your cast? I promise I'll stop staring at you if you let me sign it."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"You know me too well, Detective. And besides, it's not my fault that you're so captivating."

She sets the papers down, "I'm not doing anything, Castle. I'm just sitting here reading. What is so fascinating about that? It's not like I'm topless or something."

"If you were topless, I'd be doing much more than staring." When she glares again, he smiles. "You just don't get it, Kate."

"Well I'm sorry that I do not find you so interesting that I must stare at you twenty-four hours a day, Castle. And if I did, I'm sure I would have shot you long ago."

"It's okay that you're not as fascinated by me as I am by you. In your own special way you've shown me that you care."

"So your way of showing me that you care about me is by staring?" she raises an eyebrow.

"I would like to think that I do more than that," he smiles mischievously. She shakes her head at him as she rolls her eyes. "So can I sign it?"

She holds her arm out to him, "You'll just bother me until I let you. Or you'll do it while I'm sleeping again."

"Yeah… I don't listen very well," he smiles again as he grabs a marker from the coffee table. "You can go back to reading now."

"Another surprise?" He nods, and she picks up the papers again to finish the last chapter of the book.

Castle meanwhile tries to figure out how to write on her cast. He knows exactly where he wants to write his message, but he is unsure how to do so in their current position on the couch. He tries to bend her arm to get to where he wants to write.

"Are you trying to break more bones in my arm, Castle?" she asks, looking at him again.

"No. I just… have a certain spot. And I can't get to it."

She adjusts herself so that he can write, holding her arm out once more. Before he can start writing, she pulls the cast away. "If you're going to write on my cast, I want to be able to read it."

He pouts, "But I was going to make you a bracelet. With words. You know… 'cause I'm a writer."

"No."

"Why not? I thought it was a clever idea."

"Just no."

"Fine. I'll be normal. For once. Now go back to reading."

Her gaze stays on him as she extends her arm again, wary of him. He smiles before putting the marker to the cast, and she turns her attention back to the last chapter of his book.

"So?" he whispers, capping the marker and bringing her hand up to kiss her fingers as she finishes reading.

"It was a lot like what happened with us. When we got around to actually talking about what was between us. And the situation was kind of different… no crazy fans."

"Except they slept together before admitting their feelings."

She smacks him in the chest, rolling her eyes, "Is that all you think about?"

"…No."

"I… know it's kind of personal but… don't change it. I like it the way it is."

"Good. I don't think I could write it any other way."

"So… is _Dead Heat_ going to be the fourth one or are you going to wait and see how things go between them?"

"I think it will be. As long as I know that you're not planning on going anywhere." She frowns. "It'll be a lot harder to write this so-called defeat of Nikki Heat if I know that there's a possibility that you really could leave."

"Rick… I don't want to go anywhere."

"Me neither."

"Actually going somewhere warm does sound pretty good right now."

"I can easily arrange that as long as you have vacations days to use."

"Not now. Maybe in a few months when we're sick of the snow."

"Okay." They sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until he can no longer stand it. "You're not curious?"

"About what?"

"About what I wrote?"

Kate studies him for a moment before lifting her arm up to read his message: 'Thank you for sharing your life with me. It never ceases to amaze me how extraordinary you are and how lucky I am to have you in my life. Rick.'

He watches the small smile form on her face as she reads the message, "I mean every word of it, Kate."

"Thank you, Rick," she leans over to kiss him. "And despite how annoying and frustrating you can be at times, I do appreciate everything that you do for me."

"I know," he whispers, kissing her temple before pulling her close to him.

Alexis wanders down the stairs and into the living room. Upon seeing the couple seated on the couch together, she stops. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Of course not," Castle smiles at her.

"Kate, you got a new cast," the teenager observes as she sits on the other side of her father.

He holds the marker out to her, "You should write on it upside down or backwards or something to drive her crazy." She glares at him as she holds her cast out to Alexis. "You guys hungry? We still have tons of turkey to eat."

"I'm kind of tired to turkey, Dad. Could we order out?"

"Sure," he scoots out from in between the women. "Chinese okay?" They both nod.

"And maybe we could have another movie night?"

Rick looks at the detective before nodding. "Okay. Did you have anything particular in mind?"

"Well, I really think Kate needs to catch up on all the stuff she's missing out on. So maybe we could have a _Twilight_ marathon?"

"I really don't see what the big deal is, but if you two insist that I have to see these movies, then we might as well get it over with."

"After you watch the movies, you have to read the books. They're so good. Although I guess you prefer some mystery in your romance novels…" she smirks, looking toward her father.

Kate blushes, looking away from the red-head, "You might be onto something there."

As the evening progresses, Kate finds that she could get use to the whole family setting that she had once been averse to, especially when it involved Castle. But with her head resting on his shoulder while they watch the movie, she decides that she likes having people to care about and people to take care of her.

Impulsively she leans up to kiss his cheek while he is busy staring at the TV screen, his eyes for once glued to something other than her. He looks over at her curiously. "What was that for?"

She smiles and shrugs, "No reason."

**A/N: Still not sure if this is the best ending, but I refuse to add more to the story. I have no idea what I would do to continue it. So hopefully you're all good with this as the end. Anyway, I've been avoiding my homework this weekend and spent a lot of time writing. I'm hoping to start posting the next story by Thanksgiving. It will only be about ten chapters though. And then I've got a couple more ideas that I'll work on. So... this is it. Thanks to all of you that read this story and especially to those of you who took the time to review. **


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